title: Plant-derived compounds as natural antimicrobials to control paper mill biofilms.
abstract: Biofilms can cause severe problems in industrial paper mills, particularly of economic and technological types (clogging of filters, sheet breaks or holes in the paper, machine breakdowns, etc.). We present here some promising results on the use of essential oil compounds to control these biofilms. Biofilms were grown on stainless-steel coupons with a microbial white water consortium sampled from an industrial paper mill. Five essential oil compounds were screened initially in the laboratory in terms of their antimicrobial activity against planktonic cells and biofilms. The three most active compounds were selected and then tested in different combinations. The combination finally selected was tested at the pilot scale to confirm its efficiency under realistic conditions. All the compounds tested were as active against biofilms as they were against planktonic cells. The most active compounds were thymol, carvacrol, and eugenol, and the most efficient combination was thymol-carvacrol. At a pilot scale, with six injections a day, 10 mM carvacrol alone prevented biocontamination for at least 10 days, and a 1 mM thymol-carvacrol combination enabled a 67 % reduction in biofilm dry matter after 11 days. The use of green antimicrobials could constitute a very promising alternative or supplement to the treatments currently applied to limit biofilm formation in the environment of paper mill machines.
authors.affiliation: Centre Technique du Papier (CTP), Domaine Universitaire, BP 251, CS90251, Grenoble cedex 9, France.
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Neyret
authors.forename: Jean-Marie
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Herry
authors.forename: Thierry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Meylheuc
authors.forename: Florence
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dubois-Brissonnet
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018441:Biofilms / Q000187:drug effects*; D000081007:Cymenes; D005054:Eugenol / Q000494:pharmacology; D007221:Industry; D039821:Monoterpenes / Q000494:pharmacology; D010209:Paper; D064209:Phytochemicals / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013193:Stainless Steel; D013943:Thymol / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000081007:Cymenes; D039821:Monoterpenes; D064209:Phytochemicals; D013193:Stainless Steel; D013943:Thymol; D005054:Eugenol; C073316:carvacrol