Study of chemical composition and antibacterial activity of Moroccan Thymbra capitata essential oil and its possible use in orange juice conservation

Publication date: 2019Source: Materials Today: Proceedings, Volume 13, Part 3Author(s): S. Charfi, N. Boujida, J. Abrini, N.S. SenhajiAbstractOrange juice is one of the most famous and consumed juice due to its high ascorbic acid content, its high nutritional value and desirable sensorial characteristics. The intake of orange juice has shown different advantages on human health. The consumers demand for food naturally preserved caused the increase of research on alternatives like essential oils that are able to control pathogenic bacteria growth. Thymbra capitata essential oil has been used as traditional preservative in a wide variety of food but only few researchers studied experimentally its ability to be a food preservative. To the best of our knowledge, no researches have been published on the use of Moroccan Thymbra capitata essential oil in orange juice conservation. The aim of this study was to investigate the composition and antibacterial activity of this oil and to evaluate its activity against three pathogenic bacteria in orange juice during 30 days storage at 20 and 5°C. The essential oil was obtained by hydrodistillation of the aerial part of the plant. The chemical composition was analyzed by GC/MS. The diffusion method and the microtitration assays were used to evaluate its antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli O157:H7 CECT 4267, Listeria monocytogenes CECT 4032 and Staphylococcus aureus CECT 976. GC/MS analysis showed that the oil main constituent w...
Source: Materials Today: Proceedings - Category: Materials Science Source Type: research