SENSITIVITY OF SALMONELLA ENTERITIDIS TO SELECTED ACTIVE CONSTITUENTS OF ESSENTIAL OILS IN IN VITRO CONDITIONS

Abstract

In spite of modern improvements in slaughter hygiene and food production techniques, prevention and therapy of infective animal diseases, especially zoonosis, is necessary because food safety has been an increasingly important public health issue. Using chemotherapeutic drugs against pathogen microorganisms raises the possibility of developing resistance of bacteria (common for animals and humans) to certain drugs. Another important issue is presence of drug residua in food of animal origin. The use of essential oils (EOs) is a possible alternative to synthetic drugs, because of their antibacterial effect. The aim of this study was to investigate the antimicrobial activity of essential oils – eugenol, cinnamaldehyde, thymol and carvacrol, individually as well as when combined, against filed strain Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica, serotype Enteritidis (SE/in vitro conditions). Determining antimicrobial potential of essential oils, as well as their combinations against the strain of SE (biological material originating from poultry), was carried out through determining minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) using agar dilution test. MIC (determined by agar dilution method) of eugenol, and combination of eugenol and cinnamaldehyde (2:1) was 0.625 μl/ml. Cinnamaldehyde and mixture of thymol and carvacrol (1:1) resulted in growth inhibition of SE at 0.312 μl/ml medium. Thymol and carvacrol had the best antibacterial activity and their MIC was 0.156 mg/ml, i.e. μl/ml. It can be concluded that the selected EOs partly or totally inhibited growth of SE and that they can be used in veterinary medicine, possibly as phytopharmaceuticals.