Antimicrobial activity of thyme and cumin essential oil in beef sausage during storage

To meet the proper shelf life of food products, food producers added various chemical preservatives to foods, which are suspected to have some adverse effect on producers. Essential oils, odorous andvolatile products of plant secondary metabolism, have known to have considerable antimicrobialproperties. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of adding different percentages of essential oils of avishan-e shirazi (Zataria multiflora Boiss) and cumin (Cuminum cyminum L.) on thegrowth of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria (as important bacteria in food diseases) and total count of microorganisms in the sausage during 4 weeks of storage. In all the concentrations, organoleptic properties were acceptable. The effect of essential oils to reduce the microbial load increased in higherconcentration, but there was no significant difference (p<0.05) in microbial count between 0.05% ofcumin and the control sample. The antimicrobial effect of thyme essential oil is more than cumin oil. The results indicated that use of thyme essential oil alone or in combination with cumin essential oil as a natural preservative has a good potential for reduction of microbial load and subsequently increasing shelf life of meat products.

کلیدواژه ها:

Antibacterial properties ، Cumin ، Essential oil ، Staphylococcus aureus ، Sausage ، Thyme