Abstract
The use of essential oils in the food industry, as natural sanitizing agents, requires the definition of optimal conditions. The aim of the present work was to evaluate some antimicrobial activity parameters as mycelial growth inhibition, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) of six essential oils against Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus terreus,Chaetomium globosum, Penicillium chrysogenum, Penicillium pinophilum, Trichoderma harzianum and Trichoderma viride. The antimicrobial activity of essential oils was monitored by the macrodiluition technique. The mycelial growth inhibition, fungistatic and fungicidal concentrations were recorded for each strain that showed sensitivity to the essential oils. The essential oils of catnip, cinnamon, tea tree and thyme essential oils exhibited a large spectrum antimicrobial activities; those of clary sage and laurel inhibited the mycelial growth in a few fungal strains. The essential oils of cinnamon and thyme had the lowest MIC and MFC values against all the fungi assayed, followed by catnip, tea tree, clary sage and laurel. The use of these natural products rather than, the currently used antifungal chemicals, may be of interest given that: i) essential oils are of natural origin which means they are safer for human health and the environment and ii) there is less chance that the pathogenic microorganisms will develop resistance.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Behravan J., Ramezani M., Kasaian J., Sabeti Z. (2004). Antimycotic activity of the essential oil of Satureja mutica Fish & C. A. Mey from Iran. Flavour Fragr. J., 19: 421–423.
Burt S. (2004). Essential oils: their antibacterial properties and potential applications in foods — a review. Int. J. Food Microbiol., 94: 223–253.
Corley D.G., Miller-Wideman M., Durley R.C. (1994). Isolation and structure of harzianum A: a new trichothecene fromTrichoderma harzianum. J. Nat. Prod., 57: 422–425.
Dantigny P., Guilmart A., Radoi F., Bensoussan M., Zwietering M. (2005). Modelling the effect of ethanol on growth rate of food spoilage moulds. Int. J. Food Microbiol., 98: 261–269.
Filtenborg O., Frisvad J.C., Thrane U. (1996). Moulds in food spoilage. Int. J. Food Microbiol., 33: 85–102.
Garber R.H., Houston B.R. (1959). An inhibitor ofVerticillium alboatrum in cotton seed. Phytopathology, 49: 449–450.
Hammer K.A., Carson C.F., Riley T.V. (2002).In vitro activity ofMelaleuca alternifolia (tea tree) oil against dermatophytes and other filamentous fungi. J. Antimic. Chemot., 50: 195–199.
Hou C.T., Ciegler A., Hesseltine C.W. (1972). New mycotoxin, Trichotoxin A, fromTrichoderma viride isolated from southern leaf blight-infected corn. Appl. Microbiol., 23: 183–185.
Ishii H. (1995). Monitoring of fungicide resistence in fungi: biological to biochemical approaches. In: Singh S.U., Singh P.R., Eds, Molecular Methods in Plant Pathology. Lewis Publisher: Boca Raton, London, Tokyo, pp. 483–485.
Leistner L. (1978). Hurdle effect and energy saving. In: Downey W.K., Ed., Food Quality and Nutrition. Applied Science Publ., London, p. 553.
Mamoun M.L., Savoie J.M., Olivier J.M. (2000). Interactions between the pathogenTrichoderma harzianum Th2 andAgaricus bisporus in mushroom compost. Mycologia, 92: 233–240.
Mandeel Q.A. (2005). Fungal contamination of some imported spices. Mycopathologia, 159: 291–298.
Park DL. (1995). Surveillance programmes for managing risks from naturally occurring toxicants. Food Addit. Contam., 12: 361–371.
Pitt J.I., Basilico J.C., Abarca M.L., Lopez C. (2000). Mycotoxins and toxigenic fungi. Med. Mycol., 38: 41–46.
Pitt J.I., Hocking A.D. (1999). Fungi and Food spoilage, 2nd edn. A Chapman and Hall Food Science Book, Aspen Pubblication, Goithesburg, Marylan, pp. 69–72.
Ranasinghe L., Jayawardena B., Abeywickrama K. (2002). Fungicidal activity of essential oils of Cinnamomum zeylanicum (L.) and Syzygium aromaticum (L.) Merr et L.M. Perry against crown rot and anthracnose pathogens isolated from banana. Lett. Appl. Microbiol., 35: 208–211.
Roller S., Ed. (2003). Natural Antimicrobials for the Minimal Processing of Foods. Woodhead Publishing Ltd, Cambridge, UK., p. 256.
Sautour M., Soares Mansur C., Divies C., Bensoussan M., Dantigny P. (2002). Comparison of the effects of temperature and water activity on growth rate of food spoilage moulds. Int. J. Food Microbiol., 28: 311–315.
Simic A., Sokovic M.D., Ristic M., Grujic-Jovanovic S.,J. Vukojevic J., Marin P.D. (2004). The chemical composition of someLauraceae essential oils and their antifungal activities. Phytother. Res., 18: 713–717.
Singh N., Singh R.K., Bhunia A.K., Stroshine R.L. (2002). Efficacy of chlorine dioxide, ozone and thyme essential oil or a sequential washing in killingE. coli 0157:H7 on lettuce and baby carrots. Lebensm. Wiss. Technol., 35: 720–729.
Sinha K.K., Sinha A.K., Prasad G. (1993). The effect of clove and cinnamon oils on growth of and aflatoxin production byAspergillus flavus. Lett. Appl. Microbiol., 16: 114–117.
Smid E.J., Gorris L.G.M. (1999). Natural antimicrobials for food preservation. In: Rahman M.S., Ed., Handbook of Food Preservation. Marcel Dekker, New York, pp. 285–308.
Smith-Palmer A., Stewart J., Fyfe L. (1998). Antimicrobial properties of plant essential oil and essences against five important food-borne pathogens. Lett. Appl. Microbiol., 26: 118–122.
Soliman K.M., Badeaa R.I. (2002). Effect of oil extracted from some medicinal plants on different mycotoxigenic fungi. Food Chem. Toxicol., 40: 1669–1675.
Tuley de Silva K. (1996). A Manual on the Essential Oil Industry. United Nations Industrial Development Organization, Vienna.
Tyler V.E. (1992). Phytomedicines: back to the future. J. Nat. Prod., 62: 1587–1592.
Udagawa S., Muroi T., Kurata H., Sekita S., Yoshihira K., Natori S., Umeda M. (1979). The production of chaetoglobosins, sterigAnn. matocystin, O-methylsterigmatocystin, and chaetocin byChaetomium spp. and related fungi. Can. J. Microbiol., 25: 170–177.
Velluti A., Sanchis V., Ramos A.J., Egido J., Marin S. (2003). Inhibitory effect of cinnamon, clove, lemongrass, oregano and palmarose essential oils on growth and fumonisin B1 production byFusarium proliferatum in maize grain. Int. J. Food Microbiol., 89: 145–154.
WHO (2002a). Food safety and foodborne illness. World Health Organization Fact, sheet 237, Geneva.
WHO (2002b). World Health Report 2002: Reducing Risks, Promoting Healthy Life. Geneva, World Health Organization, 30 October 2002. ISBN 92 4 156207 2, ISSN 1020-3311, p. 248.
Williams J., Clarkson J.M., Mills P.R., Cooper R.M. (2003). Saprotrophic and mycoparasitic components of aggressiveness ofTrichoderma harzianum group towards the commercial mushroom Agaricus bisporus. Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 69: 4192–4199.
Wistriech G.A. (1997). Microbiology Laboratory. Prentice Hall, pp. 319-325.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Angelini, P., Pagiotti, R., Menghini, A. et al. Antimicrobial activities of various essential oils against foodborne pathogenic or spoilage moulds. Ann. Microbiol. 56, 65–69 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03174972
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03174972