Antimicrobial Effectiveness of Clove Oil in Decontamination of Ready-to-Eat Spinach (<i>Spinacia oleracea</i> L.)

Antimicrobial Effectiveness of Clove Oil in Decontamination of Ready-to-Eat Spinach (<i>Spinacia oleracea</i> L.)

Due to an increased demand for natural food additives, clove oil was assessed as a natural alternative to chemical disinfectants in produce washing. This study assessed the antimicrobial activity of 5 and 10% (<i>v</i>/<i>v</i>) clove oil-amended wash liquid (CO) using a zone...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Abigail A. Armah, Kelvin F. Ofori, Kenisha Sutherland, Emmanuel Otchere, Winter A. Lewis, Wilbert Long
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-01-01
Series:Foods
Subjects:
clove oil
essential oil
natural antimicrobial compounds
ready-to-eat produce
produce washing
<i>Escherichia coli</i>
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/14/2/249
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Summary:Due to an increased demand for natural food additives, clove oil was assessed as a natural alternative to chemical disinfectants in produce washing. This study assessed the antimicrobial activity of 5 and 10% (<i>v</i>/<i>v</i>) clove oil-amended wash liquid (CO) using a zone of inhibition (ZIB) test and determined the time required to completely inactivate pathogenic bacteria using bacterial death curve analysis. A washing experiment was used to evaluate CO’s ability to inhibit bacterial growth on inoculated RTE spinach and in the wash water. The findings showed that <i>Shigella flexneri</i>, <i>Salmonella</i> Typhimurium, and <i>Salmonella enterica</i> recovery were completely inhibited within 5 min. <i>Escherichia coli</i> and <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> recovery were completely inhibited at 10 and 30 min, respectively. The ZIB test showed that 5% CO had the highest inhibitory effect on both Salmonella strains and <i>E. coli</i> with approximately 10 mm ZIB diameter. Additionally, 5% CO completely inactivated all bacterial strains on spinach samples and in the wash water except for <i>S. aureus</i>. A total of 80 mg/L peracetic acid (PAA) resulted in >2log CFU/mL recovery on experimental washed samples. These findings suggest that 5% CO was highly effective in inhibiting microbial growth on RTE spinach, potentially contributing to sustainable food safety and shelf-life extension strategies.
ISSN:2304-8158

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