Antimicrobial activity of phenolic compounds of wine against Campylobacter jejuni

Campylobacter jejuni is a food pathogen which causes gastrointestinal conditions with an ever-increasing incidence at a global level. The antimicrobial power of wine and its components has been studied. Wines having 11.5% ethanol significantly reduced the viability of C jejuni when they were diluted to 25% in water. The microbicidal power of red wine was higher than that of white wine. While pH does not seem to affect the viability of this pathogen, different phenolic compounds have an effect on it when tested at concentrations from 0 to 1000 mg/L Gallic acid and p-hydroxybenzoic acid reduced the viability of C jejuni at concentrations as low as I mg/L, but quercetin and catechin did not even affect it at concentrations of 1000 mg/L Methyl gallate, epicatechin, synaptic acid, vanillic acid, and caffeic acid were microbicidal at concentrations starting at 10 mg/L Tryptophol, ferulic acid, and cumaric acid were effective starting at 100 mg/L According to this, wine constitutes an adverse environment for the survival of this pathogen. Furthermore, it would be interesting to study the possible use of phenolic compounds in wine as an alternative to the use of antimicrobial growth promoters against these bacteria in broilers. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.