In vitro inhibition of foodborne pathogens by volatile oil and organic extracts of Poncirus trifoliata Rafin. seeds

BACKGROUND:Poncirus trifoliata Rafin. is widely used in oriental medicine because of its beneficiary effects on health. In this study, we examined the chemical compositions of the volatile oil isolated from the seeds of P. trifoliata by hydrodistillation, and tested the efficacy of the oil and various organic extracts as an antibacterial potential against a panel of foodborne pathogens.RESULTS: The hydrodistilled volatile oil was analysed by GC-MS. Thirty-six compounds representing 90.67% of the total oil were identified, of which veridiflorol, spathulenol, α-humulene, α-cadinol, δ-cadinene, T-muurolol, hexadecanoic acid, germacrene D, bergaptene and aromadendrene were the major volatile compounds. The oil and the organic extracts of chloroform, ethyl acetate and methanol revealed a remarkable antibacterial effect against the tested pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Listeria monocytogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter aerogenes, Salmonella typhimurium, S. enteritidis and Escherichia coli. Also, the oil had strong detrimental effect on the viable count of the tested bacteria.CONCLUSION: Our findings demonstrate that the oil and organic extracts derived from P. trifoliata seeds might be a potential source of a preservative for the food or pharmaceutical industries.