ANTIMICROBIAL IMPACTS OF ALGERIAN SACCOCALYX SATUREIOÏDES COSS. & DUR. ESSENTIAL OIL AND VAPORS ON FOODBORNE PATHOGENS

This study was designed to investigate the chemical composition and the antimicrobial activity of liquid and vapor phase of Algerian Saccocalyx satureio�des essential oil (EO) against twenty-two foodborne pathogens. EO is obtained by hydrodistillation with a yield of 0.92 % and analyzed by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC/MS) where 53 compounds representing 98.36% of the total essential oil composition were identified. ?-terpineol (38.47%), borneol (23.63%), thymol (20.90%) and terpinen-4-ol (2.61%) were the major compounds. The antimicrobial efficiency of the vapor phase of S.satureio�des essential oil, which was never presented in the relevant literature yet, was carried out by disc volatilization method. Vapors showed a potent activity against the majority of pathogenic fungal and bacterial tested strains. The antimicrobial activity of the liquid phase was investigated using disc diffusion and agar dilution methods. EO exhibited a strong antimicrobial activity against all tested strains except P.aeruginosa. Both minimum bactericidal (MBC) and fungicidal (MFC) concentrations values vary from 2.5 to 10�l/ml. These promising results suggest the possibility of using S. satureio�des HE and vapors in anti-infectious aromatherapy against food poisoning or as antimicrobial agents in food industry.