RT Journal Article
T1 Antimicrobial activity of essential oil components against Escherichia coli depends on the food components present in a food matrix
A1 Gómez-Llorente, Héctor
A1 Pérez-Esteve, Édgar
A1 Barat, José M.
A1 Jiménez, M. Consuelo
A1 González Bello, Concepción
A1 Fernández-Segovia, Isabel
K1 Bovine serum albumin
K1 Oil
K1 Lactose
K1 Antimicrobial effective concentration
K1 Killing time
AB Despite numerous studies evaluating the antimicrobial activity of essential oil components (EOCs) against different microorganisms, the effect of the composition of the matrix in which they are applied remains unexplored. Hence, the effect of different food components (i.e., proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, acids, ethanol) on vanillin antimicrobial activity was carried out by assessing the growth of E. coli at different incubation times (0, 1, 4, 8 and 24 h). Based on these outcomes, the food components that most adversely affected vanillin antimicrobial activity were subsequently tested with four other EOCs (i.e., carvacrol, eugenol, geraniol, thymol). The effective concentration of antimicrobials after coming into contact with food components was quantified. The results indicated that bovine serum albumin (BSA), sunflower oil and carbohydrates partially or completely inhibited the antimicrobial efficacy of the tested EOCs, and the inhibition rate depended on the specific EOC-food component combination. Geraniol was notably the most efficient with BSA present. Eugenol performed best with sunflower oil. Carvacrol, eugenol, geraniol and thymol were more effective than vanillin with D-lactose present. This study confirmed that loss of EOCs’ effective concentration due to an interaction with food constituents is a significant cause of antimicrobial activity inhibition. These findings underscore the importance of considering matrix composition when selecting antimicrobials to combat a particular strain in real food applications.
PB Elsevier
YR 2024
FD 2024-09-06
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10347/40991
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10347/40991
LA eng
NO Gómez-Llorente, H., Pérez-Esteve, É., Barat, J. M., Jiménez, M. C., González-Bello, C., & Fernández-Segovia, I. (2025). Antimicrobial activity of essential oil components against Escherichia coli depends on the food components present in a food matrix. Food Microbiology, 125. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.FM.2024.104638
NO The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the project PID2021-128141OB-C21 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by “ERDF A way of making Europe”. This work is also granted by the project TED2021-132035B-I00, funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by “European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR”. CG-B thanks the financial support received from the Spanish State Agency of Research (PID2022-136963OB-I00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033), the Xunta de Galicia [ED431C 2021/29 and Centro singular de investigación de Galicia accreditation 2023–2027 (ED431G 2023/03)], and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). H.G.LL. acknowledges the Universitat Politècnica de València for his predoctoral fellowship.
DS Minerva
RD 28 abr 2026