title: Bioactivity of selected plant essential oils against Listeria monocytogenes.
abstract: Ninety-three different commercial essential oils were screened for activity against 20 Listeria monocytogenes strains in vitro and the results correlated against the actual chemical composition of each oil. There was a substantial difference in the activity between different essential oils as expected, but there was also a difference in activity between different samples of the same essential oil. Strong anti-Listeria activity was often correlated with essential oils containing a high percentage of monoterpenes, eugenol, cinnamaldehyde, thymol, and sometimes with citronellol, limonene and geraniol. However, as there was often no correlation between the anti-Listeria activity and the main chemical components, it is possible that either there is a more complex relationship with the chemical composition (which includes the minor components) or that substantial adulteration had occurred in some essential oil samples.
authors.affiliation: School of Applied Science, South Bank University, London, UK.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lis-Balchin
authors.forename: S G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Deans
mesh_terms: D008089:Listeria monocytogenes / Q000187:drug effects*; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D010938:Plant Oils