<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Ready-to-eat salads are becoming more and more popular. However, due to their ingredients, they represent a suitable growth environment for different microbes. In the prevention of foodborne diseases, hygienic food preparation and appropriate storage conditions are very important. During this study, ten different ready-to-eat salads were analysed for the presence of <italic>Listeria monocytogenes</italic>. Five different selective agar mediums were used for the enumeration and isolation of <italic>Listeria monocytogenes</italic>. The isolated bacterial strains were subjected to morphological and biochemical confirmation tests. The antibacterial effects of five different freshly squeezed vegetable juices (carrots, celery, beets, horseradish, and onions) and of five essential oils (dill, thyme, oregano, lemongrass, and sage) were determined against <italic>Listeria monocytogenes</italic>, <italic>Listeria innocua</italic>, and <italic>L. monocytogenes</italic> strains isolated from ready-to-eat salads. Based on the results obtained from fresh vegetable juices, carrot juice exerted the highest antibacterial effect, while the others showed no or slight inhibitory effect (horseradish, beets, onions) against <italic>Listeria</italic> species. Among the essential oils, thyme, lemongrass, and oregano showed the strongest antibacterial effect against the studied <italic>Listeria</italic> species.</p></abstract>

Ready-to-eat salads are becoming more and more popular. However, due to their ingredients, they represent a suitable growth environment for different microbes. In the prevention of foodborne diseases, hygienic food preparation and appropriate storage conditions are very important. During this study, ten different ready-to-eat salads were analysed for the presence of Listeria monocytogenes. Five different selective agar mediums were used for the enumeration and isolation of Listeria monocytogenes. The isolated bacterial strains were subjected to morphological and biochemical confirmation tests. The antibacterial effects of five different freshly squeezed vegetable juices (carrots, celery, beets, horseradish, and onions) and of five essential oils (dill, thyme, oregano, lemongrass, and sage) were determined against Listeria monocytogenes, Listeria innocua, and L. monocytogenes strains isolated from ready-to-eat salads. Based on the results obtained from fresh vegetable juices, carrot juice exerted the highest antibacterial effect, while the others showed no or slight inhibitory effect (horseradish, beets, onions) against Listeria species. Among the essential oils, thyme, lemongrass, and oregano showed the strongest antibacterial effect against the studied Listeria species.

Antibacterial activity of plant extracts against <italic>Listeria monocytogenes</italic> isolated from ready-to-eat salads

Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania (Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

Faculty of Economics, Socio-Human Sciences and Engineering, Department of Food Science

Faculty of Economics, Socio-Human Sciences and Engineering, Department of Bioengineering

Acta Universitatis Sapientiae, Alimentaria

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Antibacterial activity of plant extracts against  isolated from ready-to-eat salads

Ready-to-eat salads are becoming more and more popular. However, due to their ingredients, they represent a suitable growth environment for different microbes....

Antibacterial activity of plant extracts against Listeria monocytogenes isolated from ready-to-eat salads

Published Online: Nov 05, 2020

Page range: 131 - 143

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ausal-2020-0008

Keywords
ready-to-eat salad, fresh vegetable juices, essential oils

© 2020 É. György et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Antibacterial activity of plant extracts against Listeria monocytogenes isolated from ready-to-eat salads

Published Online: Nov 05, 2020

Page range: 131 - 143

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ausal-2020-0008

Keywordsready-to-eat salad, fresh vegetable juices, essential oils

© 2020 É. György et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
ready-to-eat salad, fresh vegetable juices, essential oils