Essential oils as natural antimicrobial agents in postharvest treatments of fruits and vegetables: a review

Abstract

Increasing consumer concerns about the dangers associated with synthetically produced additives in food processing have led researchers to focus their investigation on eco-friendly materials and natural antimicrobials from animal sources, microorganisms, and plant-based materials. Although fruits and vegetables are an essential element of most people's diets, the perishable nature of these products results in a very limited shelf-life. Postharvest factors such as transportation, environmental factors, and preservation methods further decrease the product quality and storage limits. Thus, it is crucial to choose the correct substance and packaging method to retain product freshness. Minimally processed fruits and vegetables (MPFV) are among the most developing branches of the food industry. One of the practical techniques is essential oils (Eos) as natural preservatives and antimicrobial agents in MPFV. Eos demonstrated compelling against different pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Listeria monocytogenes. This review provides updated information on the use of Eos like Thyme, cinnamon, sage, peppermint, clove, their synergetic effect and applications in minimally processed fruits and vegetables. These essential oils ought to be investigated in the future to inspect their harmfulness and results through in vitro and clinical examinations.

The influence of sodium alginate and sodium alginate/WPI as coating material on microcapsules of Jujube extract produced by spray dryer

“…Researchers have proven that is a rich source of flavonoid, antioxidant, and polyphenolic compounds (Gao et al 2011; Nazni & Mythili, 2013). Antioxidant and phenolic fruits such as jujube, often because of sensitivity of its compounds to environmental conditions (Baltrusch, Torres, Domínguez, & Flórez‐Fernández, 2022; Khoshdouni Farahani, 2021; Paidari & Ahari, 2021) and the possibility of reducing its nutritional value, may be used microencapsulation to preserve their bioactive compounds and use in other products or for long‐term storage (Esmaeili et al, 2021). The main goal of converting Jujube extract into a powder is easy to use to reduce the content of its damage (Baltrusch, Torres, Domínguez, & Flórez‐Fernández, 2022).…”

An Update on Effectiveness and Practicability of Plant Essential Oils in the Food Industry

“…The EOs possessing the most potent antibacterial properties have antimicrobial agents such as carvacrol, eugenol, and thymol [ 16 ]. The antimicrobial action of EOs in vegetables and fruit-based dishes are influenced positively by low storage temperature and pH reduction [ 107 ]. In several studies, the researchers used the EOs obtained from orange, lime, Litsea cubeba , clove, oregano, spearmint, cinnamon, limonene, and thyme in developing packaging for fruits and vegetables with promising antimicrobial results [ 108 , 109 , 110 , 111 , 112 , 113 ].…”

Antiviral Activity of Selected Lamiaceae Essential Oils and Their Monoterpenes Against SARS-Cov-2

“…Terpenes are usually isolated from plants as the natural mixture called essential oils that have been used for different remedies against different non-infectious and infectious diseases since ancient times ( Dzubak et al, 2006 ; Jamshidi-Kia et al, 2018 ). Due to this, the pharmacological properties of essential oils and their terpene components have been analyzed extensively studied ( Angane et al, 2022 ), and their different antimicrobial, antiviral, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer activities were reported ( Amorati et al, 2013 ; Wani et al, 2021 ; Esmaeili et al, 2022 ; Singh et al, 2022 ).…”