Essential oils as antibacterial agents against food-borne pathogens: are they really as useful as they are claimed to be ?

Original articleMost studies evaluating the use of essential oils (EO) as antibacterial agents focus mainly on minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) rather than minimal bactericidal concentrations (MBC). In this work, we compared MICs and MBCs of EO from condiment plants commonly used in Mediterranean Europe, namely Origanum vulgare, Salvia lavandulaefolia, Salvia officinalis, Salvia sclarea and Rosmarinus officinalis, aiming to evaluate their application as disinfecting agents in minimally processed produce. Outbreaks-related pathogens such as Listeria monocytogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Yarrowia lipolytica were used. Results showed that all EO were able to reduce bacterial growth in all bacterial strains tested, particularly O. vulgare. However, fewer EO exhibited bactericidal activities, and were only effective against one or two bacterial strains, hence eliminating the possibility to use them as broad range disinfectants. Furthermore, the necessary concentrations were too high for food application. Hence, our work suggests the need to evaluate MBC rather than MIC and questions EO usefulness in controlling undesired microorganisms. Overall, and despite the large volume of data published on EO, results obtained were not very encouraging for a realistic application on produce and question the viability of EOs as disinfecting agents in foodinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Physicochemical and sensory characteristics of winter yoghurt produced from mixtures of cow’s and goat’s milk [İnek ve keçi sütü karışımlarından üretilen kış yoğurtlarının fizikokimyasal ve duyusal karakteristikleri]

Winter yoghurt is one of the most popular dairy products in Van and Hatay region of Turkey. It is made of different kinds of milk, and known as “cooked yoghurt” or “salted yoghurt” due to its high solids content and long shelf life. In this study, two different concentration methods were used to produce traditional winter yoghurt. Some physical (firmness and cohesiveness, L-, a- and b- values), chemical (total solid, fat, protein, pH, lactic acid, salt) and sensory analyses (color, odor, consistent and flavor) were made to determine the effect of production methods and storage on winter yoghurt samples at the 1st, 30th, 60th and 90th days. Significant differences were found between sensory, rheological properties and color values of winter yoghurts however no significant differences were found between physicochemical properties of the samples. Especially, winter yoghurts produced from 100% goat milk were the more appreciated samples. © Ankara Üniversitesi Ziraat Fakültesi

Physicochemical and sensory characteristics of winter yoghurt produced from mixtures of cow’s and goat’s milk [İnek ve keçi sütü karışımlarından üretilen kış yoğurtlarının fizikokimyasal ve duyusal karakteristikleri]

Winter yoghurt is one of the most popular dairy products in Van and Hatay region of Turkey. It is made of different kinds of milk, and known as “cooked yoghurt” or “salted yoghurt” due to its high solids content and long shelf life. In this study, two different concentration methods were used to produce traditional winter yoghurt. Some physical (firmness and cohesiveness, L-, a- and b- values), chemical (total solid, fat, protein, pH, lactic acid, salt) and sensory analyses (color, odor, consistent and flavor) were made to determine the effect of production methods and storage on winter yoghurt samples at the 1st, 30th, 60th and 90th days. Significant differences were found between sensory, rheological properties and color values of winter yoghurts however no significant differences were found between physicochemical properties of the samples. Especially, winter yoghurts produced from 100% goat milk were the more appreciated samples. © Ankara Üniversitesi Ziraat Fakültesi