TY - JOUR AU - Pedonese, Francesca AU - Fratini, Filippo AU - Pistelli, Luisa AU - Porta, Federica Maria AU - Di Ciccio, Pierluigi AU - Fischetti, Roberto AU - Turchi, Barbara AU - Nuvoloni, Roberta PY - 2017/12/11 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - Antimicrobial activity of four essential oils against pigmenting Pseudomonas fluorescens and biofilmproducing Staphylococcus aureus of dairy origin JF - Italian Journal of Food Safety JA - Ital J Food Safety VL - 6 IS - 4 SE - Original Articles DO - 10.4081/ijfs.2017.6939 UR - https://www.pagepressjournals.org/ijfs/article/view/6939 SP - AB - Essential oils (EOs) are mixtures of secondary metabolites of plant origin with many useful properties, among which the antimicrobial activity is also of interest for the food industry. EOs can exert their antimicrobial potential both directly, in food products and active packaging, and indirectly, as sanitizing and anti-biofilm agents of food facility surfaces. Aim of this research was to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of four EOs (bergamot, cinnamon, manuka and thyme) against <em>Pseudomonas fluorescens</em> and <em>Staphylococcus aureus</em> isolated from milk and dairy products. The chemical composition of EOs was evaluated by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry analysis. Minimum Inhibitory Concentration values were determined by a microplate method against 9 <em>Ps. fluorescens</em> from marketed mozzarella with blue discoloration defect, and 3 biofilm-producing <em>S. aureus</em> from milk. Reference ATCC strains were included. Pigment production activity by <em>Ps. fluorescens</em> was assessed both in culture and in cheese. EOs of manuka (leptospermone 23%) and thyme (carvacrol 30%, pcymene 20%, thymol 15%) showed the highest antimicrobial activity against <em>S. aureus</em>, MIC values were 0.012%-0.024% and 0.024% v/v, respectively; meanwhile EOs from thyme and cinnamon (cinnamaldehyde 55%) exhibited the best activity against <em>Ps. fluorescens</em> with MIC values of 0.098%-0.195% and 0.195%-0.391% v/v, respectively. The antimicrobial activity of these EOs is promising and they could be exploited in the dairy production chain. ER -