Citrus medica and Cinnamomum zeylanicum Essential Oils as Potential Biopreservatives against Spoilage in Low Alcohol Wine Products

Low alcohol wine is a new entry in the global wine market, due to the increase in consumers' concern for health, economic and modern lifestyle issues. As low alcohol products are prone to spoilage, the adoption of natural-derived products with antimicrobial activity as biopreservatives seems to be an intriguing alternative. Thus, the aim of the present study was to investigate the possible antimicrobial properties of and essential oils (EOs) and assess their commercial prospective in the wine industry. The main constituents identified by GC/MS analysis were limonene (38.46%) and linalool (35.44%) in EO, whereas trans-cinnamic-aldehyde (63.58%) was the dominant compound in EO. The minimum inhibitory (MIC), non-inhibitory (NIC) and minimum lethal concentration (MLC) values against common wine spoilage microbes were initially determined. Subsequently, their efficiency was further validated in low alcohol (~6% vol) wines, either separately or in combination at 0.010% ( / ), as well as in wines deliberately inoculated with , , , , , , or . EO addition led to considerable spoilage and microbial growth delay during storage at room or refrigerated temperature, suggesting their potential use as wine biopreservatives.