This work reports antimicrobial activity of oregano (Origanum vulgare) essential oil against several bacteria in sausage. The in vitro minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined for 9 selected aerobic heterotrofic bacteria. The antimicrobial activity of distinct concentrations of the essential oil on the basis of the highest MIC found was tested in a food system comprised of fresh sausage. Batch food samples were also inoculated with Escherichia coli with a fixed concentration and the time course of the product was evaluated with respect to the action of the different concentrations of essential oil. Sensory analysis were conducted, and results showed that the addition of oregano essential oil to sausage may be a promising route as bacteriostatic effect was verified for oil concentrations lower than the MIC.

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RESUMO Chemical composition and antioxidant and antibacterial activities of clove essential oil (Eugenia caryophyllata Thunb)The search for natural antioxidants and antimicrobials has been a major goal of scientific studies. The main objective of this work was to determine the antioxidant and antimicrobial activities and the minimal inhibitory concentration of clove oil obtained by hydrodistillation. GC-MS analysis identified eugenol as major compound of the essential oil. The oil showed antibacterial activity for almost all tested microorganisms. The minimal inhibitory concentration ranged from 0.2 mg.mL -1 to 0.6 mg.mL -1 . There was a linear correlation between the antioxidant activity and the essential oil concentration. Results showed the potential of Eugenia caryophyllata essential oil as an alternative for the formulation of new food products.

The efficiency of four Sanitizers - peracetic acid, chlorhexidine, quaternary ammonium, and organic acids - was tested in this work using different bacteria recognized as a problem to meat industry, Salmonella sp., S. aureus, E. coli and L. monocytogenes. The effects of sanitizer concentration (0.2, 0.5, 0.6, 1.0, 1.1 and 1.4%), at different temperatures (10 and 45 °C) and contact time (2, 10, 15, 18 and 25 minutes) were evaluated. Tests in an industrial plant were also carried out considering previously obtained results. In a general way, peracetic acid presented higher efficiencies using low concentration (0.2%) and contact time (2 minutes) at 10 °C. The tests performed in industrial scale showed that peracetic acid presented a good performance in concentration and contact time lower than that suggested by the suppliers. The use of chlorhexidine and quaternary ammonium led to reasonable results at the indicated conditions, and organic acids were ineffective under concentration and contact time higher than those indicated by the suppliers in relation to Staphylococcus aureus. The results, in general, show that the choice for the most adequate sanitizer depends on the microorganism contaminant, the time available for sanitizer application, and also on the process cost.

Este trabalho teve por objetivo estudar a cinética de secagem de carqueja, submetida a diferentes temperaturas do ar e posterior ajuste dos dados experimentais a diferentes modelos matemáticos. Para condução do experimento de secagem foram utilizados seis secadores de bandejas, empregando-se as temperaturas de 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 e 90 ºC. Foi utilizado o delineamento experimental de blocos ao acaso, com três repetições, colocando-se 800 g de folhas frescas em cada bandeja. Para o ajuste dos modelos matemáticos aos dados experimentais, realizou-se análise de regressão não linear, pelo método Quasi-Newton, sendo os valores dos parâmetros dos modelos estimados em função da temperatura do ar de secagem. Os resultados mostraram que o modelo de Midilli et al. apresentou ajuste adequado aos dados experimentais, para toda a faixa de temperatura estudada (de 40 a 90 ºC), e o modelo de Page apresentou ajuste adequado aos dados experimentais apenas para a faixa de temperatura de 60 a 90 ºC.