The presence of microbial pathogens in ready-to-eat produce represents a serious health problem. The antibacterial activity of cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum) and clove (Syzygium aromaticum L. Merr. & Perry) essential oils (EOs) was determined toward food-borne pathogens by agar disk diffusion and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) assays. The growth kinetics of all strains, both in a buffer suspension assay and “on food” in artificially contaminated samples, were also investigated. The two EOs demonstrated a good antibacterial effect both alone and in combination (EO/EO). The use of EO/EO led to a synergistic antibacterial effect, also confirmed by the growth kinetics studies, where the EOs were active after 10 h of incubation (p < 0.0001) at significantly lower concentrations than those when alone. In the “on food” studies performed on artificially contaminated fruit samples stored at 4 °C for 8 days, the greatest killing activity was observed at the end of the trial (8 days) with a reduction of up to 7 log CFU/g compared to the control. These results confirm the good antibacterial activity of the EOs, which were more effective when used in combination. Data from the "on food" studies suggest cinnamon and clove essential oils, traditionally used in the food industry, as a possible natural alternative to chemical additives.

中文翻译：

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肉桂 (Cinnamomum zeylanicum) 和丁香 (Syzygiumaromaticum L. Merr. & Perry) 精油控制鲜切水果中食源性病原体的功效和协同潜力

即食产品中存在微生物病原体是一个严重的健康问题。通过琼脂纸片扩散和最低抑菌浓度 (MIC) 测定，确定了肉桂 (Cinnamomum zeylanicum) 和丁香 (Syzygiumaromaticum L. Merr. & Perry) 精油 (EO) 对食源性病原体的抗菌活性。还研究了所有菌株的生长动力学，无论是在缓冲液悬浮测定中还是在人工污染的样品中“在食物上”。两种EO单独使用和联合使用（EO/EO）均表现出良好的抗菌效果。 EO/EO 的使用产生了协同抗菌作用，这也得到了生长动力学研究的证实，其中 EO 在孵育 10 小时后具有活性（p < 0.0001），其浓度明显低于单独使用时的浓度。在对在 4°C 下储存 8 天的人工污染水果样品进行的“食品”研究中，在试验结束时（8 天）观察到最大的杀灭活性，与相比，减少了高达 7 log CFU/g到控制。这些结果证实了 EO 具有良好的抗菌活性，联合使用时效果更佳。 “食品”研究的数据表明，传统上用于食品工业的肉桂和丁香精油可能是化学添加剂的天然替代品。