Perfil químico e atividade antibacteriana in vitro e em matriz alimentar do óleo essencial de Croton rhamnifolioides Pax & Hoffm.

Abstract

The search for alternative compounds to develop a rational use in food conservation in order to answer to a customers demand for safer, more natural and resistant products has attracted a massive scientific interested on the investigation of various medicinal and aromatic plants and condiments due to their high potential as natural agents. In special, the essential oils have received a great attention because of their proven antimicrobial property. The aim of this study was to investigate the chemical composition of the essential oil Croton rhamnifolioides Pax & Hoffm. and its inhibitory effect in the development of strains of bacteria of interest in in vitro food and in food matrix. The identification and quantification of the essential oil compounds was done through a gas chromatography mass spectrometry (CG-MS). The preliminary analysis of antimicrobial activity was done through the diffusion in solid technique, the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) was determined through the technique of macrodilution while the interference of different concentrations of the essential oil through the microbial viability was realized through the viable cell count. It was also evaluated the effectiveness of the oil in inhibit the microbiota of fresh cheese during a fifteenday period. The CG-MS analysis presented 1,8-cineol (46,32%) as the prevailing compound in this essential oil, followed by 1-phellandrene (16,70%), p-cymene (10,21%), sabinene (8,14%) and trans-cariophyllene (4,81%). The MIC and CBM values of the essential oil oscillate from 2,5 - 20 μL/mL and 5 - 40 μL/mL, respectivelly. The essential oil of Croton rhamnifolioides in concentration whose references are MIC and MIC/2 affected the cellular viability of all bacteria tested along 12 hours. When inserted in the composition of the fresh cheese, the essential oil in concentrations that were superior from 1% showed the inhibition capacity of its microbiota related to its control. These results demonstrate that the essential oil of Croton rhamnifolioides presents an antimicrobial activity that transforms it in a good alternative for use, along with other conservation methods on the control of pathogenic and deteriorative micro-organisms growth in food.