Cosentino S, Tuberoso C I, Pisano B, Satta M, Mascia V, Arzedi E, Palmas F
Department of Experimental Biology, University of Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy.
Lett Appl Microbiol. 1999 Aug;29(2):130-5. doi: 10.1046/j.1472-765x.1999.00605.x.
Essential oils and their components are becoming increasingly popular as naturally occurring antimicrobial agents. In this work the chemical composition and the antimicrobial properties of Thymus essential oils and of their main components were determined. Three essential oils obtained from different species of Thymus growing wild in Sardinia and a commercial sample of Thymus capitatus oil were analysed. The essential oil components were identified by GC/MS analysis. The antimicrobial activity of the oils and components was determined against a panel of standard reference strains and multiple strains of food-derived spoilage and pathogenic bacteria, using a broth microdilution method. The GC/MS analysis showed that the major constituents of the oils were monoterpene hydrocarbons and phenolic monoterpenes, but the concentration of these compounds varied greatly among the oils examined. The results of the antimicrobial assay showed that essential oils extracted from Sardinian Thymus species have an antimicrobial activity comparable to the one observed in other thyme oils. It seems also confirmed that the antimicrobial properties of thyme essential oils are mainly related to their high phenolic content. Among the single compounds tested carvacrol and thymol turned out to be the most efficient against both reference strains and food-derived bacteria. The results of this study confirmed the possibility of using thyme essential oils or some of their components in food systems to prevent the growth of foodborne bacteria and extend the shelf-life of processed foods.
精油及其成分作为天然抗菌剂正变得越来越受欢迎。在这项工作中，测定了百里香精油及其主要成分的化学成分和抗菌性能。分析了从撒丁岛野生生长的不同百里香品种中获得的三种精油以及一种头状百里香油的商业样品。通过气相色谱/质谱分析鉴定了精油成分。采用肉汤微量稀释法测定了这些精油和成分对一组标准参考菌株以及多种食品源腐败菌和病原菌的抗菌活性。气相色谱/质谱分析表明，这些精油的主要成分是单萜烃和酚类单萜，但在所检测的精油中，这些化合物的浓度差异很大。抗菌试验结果表明，从撒丁岛百里香品种中提取的精油具有与其他百里香油相当的抗菌活性。似乎也证实了百里香精油的抗菌性能主要与其高酚含量有关。在所测试的单一化合物中，香芹酚和百里酚对参考菌株和食品源细菌都是最有效的。这项研究的结果证实了在食品体系中使用百里香精油或其某些成分来防止食源细菌生长并延长加工食品保质期的可能性。
