Essential oils (EOs) are a class of natural products that exhibit potent antimicrobial properties against a broad spectrum of bacteria. Inhibition diameters (IDs) and minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) are the typical measures of antimicrobial activity for extracts and EOs obtained from Cinnamomum, Salvia, and Mentha species.
Plant extracts have been proposed as alternative biocides and antioxidants to be included in a variety of food products. In this work, to assess the potential of French lavender, lemon balm, basil, tarragon, sage, and spearmint to be used as food additives, the chemical profiles and bioactivities of such plant extracts were studied.
After systematic review, 426 observations on log reduction data were extracted from twenty studies. The results suggest that exposure time, antimicrobial and pathogen’s inoculum concentrations and biopreservative method of application are related to LAB antimicrobial effectiveness.
Biopreservation methods based on the use of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have been proposed as hurdles to increase the microbiological safety of many products, including fermented milk and cheese.
Biopreservatives such as plant-based antimicrobials and bacteriocinogenic starter cultures have been proposed as hurdles to increase microbiological safety of a variety of products, including cheese, and numerous studies have reported their pathogen inhibitory properties.