Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Jun 28;11(10):6032-6040.
doi: 10.1002/fsn3.3537. eCollection 2023 Oct.

Combined antifungal effects of the vapor phases of Zataria multiflora and Cinnamomum zeylanicum essential oils against Aspergillus flavus and Penicillium citrinum in vitro and cheese

Loqman Imaz  1 , Javad Aliakbarlu  2 , Lin Lin  3
Affiliations

Combined antifungal effects of the vapor phases of Zataria multiflora and Cinnamomum zeylanicum essential oils against Aspergillus flavus and Penicillium citrinum in vitro and cheese

Loqman Imaz et al. Food Sci Nutr. .

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the antifungal effects of Zataria multiflora (ZEO) and Cinnamomum zeylanicum (CEO) essential oils in the vapor phase against Aspergillus flavus and Penicillium citrinum in vitro and cheese. The antifungal activities of the vapors of ZEO and CEO were assessed by determining the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), fractional inhibitory concentration (FIC) index, and inhibition zone diameters. Thymol (51.10%) and cinnamaldehyde (77.82%) were the main constituents of ZEO and CEO, respectively. The MIC values of the vapors of ZEO and CEO against A. flavus were 25 and 12.5 μL/L and against P. citrinum were 800 and 400 μL/L, respectively. The in vitro results showed that the combination of the vapor phases of ZEO and CEO could synergistically inhibit the growth of A. flavus (FIC index = 0.75). In the cheese, the growth of P. citrinum was entirely inhibited by the combination of ZEO and CEO vapors, even at very low concentrations (1/16 MIC). In conclusion, the vapor phases of ZEO and CEO showed the potential to be applied as effective natural antifungals and alternatives to synthetic preservatives in cheese.

Keywords: C. zeylanicum; Z. multiflora; cheese; essential oil; vapor phase.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

References

    1. Aguilar‐González, A. E. , Palou, E. , & López‐Malo, A. (2015). Antifungal activity of essential oils of clove (Syzygium aromaticum) and/or mustard (Brassica nigra) in vapor phase against gray mold (Botrytis cinerea) in strawberries. Innovative Food Science and Emerging Technologies, 32, 181–185. 10.1016/j.ifset.2015.09.003 - DOI
    1. Aliakbarlu, J. , Sadaghiani, S. K. , & Mohammadi, S. (2013). Comparative evaluation of antioxidant and anti food‐borne bacterial activities of essential oils from some spices commonly consumed in Iran. Food Science and Biotechnology, 22(6), 1487–1493. 10.1007/s10068-013-0242-2 - DOI
    1. Bakkali, F. , Averbeck, S. , Averbeck, D. , & Idaomar, M. (2008). Biological effects of essential oils—A review. Food and Chemical Toxicology, 46(2), 446–475. 10.1016/j.fct.2007.09.106 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bazargani‐Gilani, B. , Tajik, H. , & Aliakbarlu, J. (2014). Physicochemical and antioxidative characteristics of Iranian pomegranate (Punica granatum L. cv. Rabbab‐e‐Neyriz) juice and comparison of its antioxidative activity with Zataria multiflora Boiss essential oil. Veterinary Research Forum, 5(4), 313–318. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Burt, S. (2004). Essential oils: Their antibacterial properties and potential applications in foods—A review. International Journal of Food Microbiology, 94(3), 223–253. 10.1016/J.IJFOODMICRO.2004.03.022 - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources