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Enhanced bactericidal effect of enterocin A in combination with thyme essential oils against L. monocytogenes and E. coli O157:H7

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Abstract

The combined effects of enterocin A with Thymus vulgaris essential oils (EOs) against Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli O157:H7 were investigated in vitro by enumeration of surviving populations of testing pathogens and minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) determination. Enterocin A was purified to homogeneity by RP-HPLC from the culture fluid of Enterococcus strain and thyme EOs were extracted from local Thymus vulgaris plants. The major constituent of thyme EOs oils determined by GC-MS was thymol (78.4 %). Combination of enterocin A with thyme EOs showed an enhanced bactericidal effect against Listeria monocytogenes. Checkerboard assay and isobologram construction displayed a synergistic interaction between these compounds against Listeria (FIC index <0.5). Moreover, the MIC value of enterocin A has fallen fivefold (from 4.57 to 0.9 μg/ml), while the MIC of thyme EOs decreased threefold (from 3.6 to 1.2 μg/ml). Treatments with enterocin A alone did not affect the growth of the enteric pathogen E. coli O157:H7. However, the addition of thyme EOs and enterocin A yielded a synergistic antimicrobial effect against E. coli (MIC thyme EOs decrease from 2.2 to 0.71 μg/ml). This is the first report on the combined effect of enterocin A and thyme EOs against food pathogen bacteria. This combination could be useful in food bio-preservation.

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Acknowledgments

This work was partially supported by a grant from the Ministry of High Education, Tunisia.

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  1. UR12RS03 Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Sousse, 4002, Sousse, Tunisia

    Taoufik Ghrairi & Khaled Hani

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  1. Taoufik Ghrairi
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  2. Khaled Hani
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Correspondence to Taoufik Ghrairi.

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Ghrairi, T., Hani, K. Enhanced bactericidal effect of enterocin A in combination with thyme essential oils against L. monocytogenes and E. coli O157:H7. J Food Sci Technol 52, 2148–2156 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-013-1214-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-013-1214-5

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