Yasser Shahbazi
1*1 Department of Food Hygiene and Quality Control, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran
Abstract
Background:
Plants of genus Ziziphora are widely used as
carminative, stomach tonic, expectorant and antiseptic in different parts of
Iran. The aim of the current study was to determine chemical composition of Ziziphora
clinopodioides essential oil and evaluate its antibacterial activity
against common food-borne pathogens (Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus
subtilis, Bacillus cereus, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella typhimurium and
Escherichia coli O157:H7) with broth micro-dilution and agar disk diffusion
methods. Methods: The chemical composition
of the essential oil
was identified and quantified using gas chromatograph coupled with mass spectrometer
detector (GC-MS). The antibacterial activity of Z. clinopodioides essential
oil was evaluated by micro-dilution method in BHI broth medium and agar disk
diffusion assay. Results: According to results of GC-MS analysis, carvacrol
(64.2%) followed by thymol (19.2%), p-cymene (4.8%) and ɣ-terpinene (4.6%) were the abundant components of the essential oil. The
results revealed that the essential oil
exhibited strong levels of antibacterial
activity against all the tested microorganisms. Regarding
the MIC and MBC values, S. typhimurium and E. coli O157:H7 were
more resistance to the essential oil than the other bacteria. Conclusions:
Our findings indicated that Z. clinopodioides
essential oil had a potential to be applied
as antimicrobial agent.