Antimicrobial activity of essential oils on the native microflora of organic Swiss chard

The antimicrobial activity of several essential oils on the native microflora of Swiss chard was evaluated. The agar diffusion technique (paper disc) was used to establish, in a rapid way, the susceptibility of the native microflora to the different essential oils and to choose those with the greatest antimicrobial activity. An optical method (turbidimetry) and a microdilution method (plate count) were used to determine the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) and the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). Both methods produced similar results. The essential oils of Eucalyptus globules, Melaleuca alternifolia, Pimpinella anisum and Syzygium aromaticum presented the largest antimicrobial activity. For these oils, the MBC values were in the range of 0.093-1.5 mL/100 mL. (C) 2003 Swiss Society of Food Science and Technology. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.