Antimicrobial Activity and Mechanism of Thymol against Listeria monocytogenes
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Abstract
Listeria monocytogenes is a bacterial pathogen causing listeriosis. It is transmitted to humans through the consumption of contaminated foods. Safety and impact on human health of chemical preservatives for preventing the growth of microorganisms in foods is still under discussion. Thus, there is an attempt to find natural substances such as thymol as alternatives to chemical food preservatives. This study aimed to examine antimicrobial activity and mode of action of thymol against L. monocytogenes. By swab paper disc method, it was found that thymol had ability to inhibit L. monocytogenes. By broth dilution assay, the minimal inhibitory concentration of thymol against L. monocytogenes was found to be 1 mM. Thymol treated cells of L. monocytogenes could not grow on fresh BHI media, indicating that thymol had bactericidal effect on L. monocytogenes cells. Scanning electron microscope revealed that cell surface of L. monocytogenes was damaged by thymol. This result is in agreement with the finding showing the leakage of nucleic acids and proteins from thymol treated L. monocytogenes cells. This study suggests that thymol has potential to be an alternative to chemical food preservatives to control contaminated L. monocytogenes in foods.
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บทความที่ได้รับการตีพิมพ์เป็นลิขสิทธิ์ของ วารสารวิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี มหาวิทยาลัยอุบลราชธานี
ข้อความที่ปรากฏในบทความแต่ละเรื่องในวารสารวิชาการเล่มนี้เป็นความคิดเห็นส่วนตัวของผู้เขียนแต่ละท่านไม่เกี่ยวข้องกับมหาวิทยาลัยอุบลราชธานี และคณาจารย์ท่านอื่นๆในมหาวิทยาลัยฯ แต่อย่างใด ความรับผิดชอบองค์ประกอบทั้งหมดของบทความแต่ละเรื่องเป็นของผู้เขียนแต่ละท่าน หากมีความผิดพลาดใดๆ ผู้เขียนแต่ละท่านจะรับผิดชอบบทความของตนเองแต่ผู้เดียว
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