Assessment of Antimicrobial Activity, Mode of Action and Volatile Compounds of <i>Etlingera pavieana</i> Essential Oil

• Main Authors: Porawan Naksang, Sasitorn Tongchitpakdee, Kanjana Thumanu, Maria Jose Oruna-Concha, Keshavan Niranjan, Chitsiri Rachtanapun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-07-01
• Series: Molecules
• Subjects: <i>Etlingera pavieana</i>; essential oil; antimicrobial activity; foodborne pathogens; mode of action
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/25/14/3245

<i>Etlingera pavieana</i> (Pierre ex Gagnep.) R.M.S. is a rhizomatous plant in the Zingiberaceae family which could be freshly eaten, used as a condiment or as a traditional remedy. Our work investigated the chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of the <i>E. pavieana</i> essential oils extracted from the rhizome (EOEP). We extracted the EOEP from the rhizome by hydrodistillation and analyzed the chemical composition by headspace solid-phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC/MS). A total of 22 volatile compounds were identified where <i>trans</i>-anethole (78.54%) and estragole (19.36%) were the major components in the EOEP. The antimicrobial activity of EOEP was evaluated based on the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) values using the broth dilution method and enumerating cell death overtime. Our work shows that the EOEP exhibits potent antibacterial activity against foodborne pathogenic Gram-positive bacteria, namely <i>Bacillus cereus</i>, <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> and <i>Listeria monocytogenes</i> in the range of 0.1–0.3% (<i>v</i>/<i>v</i>). We further investigated the mechanism of EOEP inhibition using Synchrotron Fourier transformation infrared (FTIR) microspectroscopy. Here, we show significant differences in DNA/nucleic acid, proteins and cell membrane composition in the bacterial cell. To conclude, EOEP exhibited antimicrobial activity against foodborne pathogens, especially the Gram-positive bacteria associated with ready-to-eat (RTE) food and, thus, has the potential to serve as a natural preservative agent in RTE products.