Antimicrobial Activity of Varthemia iphinoides and Majorana syriaca Essential Oils from Jordan and Their Potential Use as Natural Food Preservatives

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of Varthemia iphinoides and Majorana syriaca essential oils as natural food preservative in four different food model media (cheese, meat, milk, and tomato) against two gram-positive and two gram-negative bacteria (Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and three different food spoilage fungi using agar well diffusion method. The results showed that the maximum activity of V. iphinoides essential oil was against S.aureus in tomato media with relative inhibition zone diameter (RIZD) 186 ± 9 %, the most sensitive food spoilage fungi was penicillium sp. in tomato media with RIZD 149 ± 10 %. The results showed that there was inhibitory effect of M. syriaca and V. iphinoides essential oils. against most of the tested species in different food model media which will lead to control food pathogen organisms by using essential oils as food preservative and flavoring agents.

Key words: Varthemia iphinoides , Majorana syriaca, Essential oils, Antimicrobial, Food preservatives