In vitro control of food-borne and food spoilage bacteria by essential oil and ethanol extracts of Lonicera japonica Thunb.

The antibacterial potential of essential oil from flowers and ethanolic leaf extracts of Lonicera japonica Thunb. was evaluated for controlling the growth of a range of food-borne pathogens. Thirty-nine compounds representing 92.34% of the total oil were identified, of which trans-nerolidol (16.31%), caryophyllene oxide (11.15%), linalool (8.61%), p-cymene (7.43%), hexadecanoic acid (6.39%), eugenol (6.13%), geraniol (5.01%), trans-linalool oxide (3.75%), globulol (2.34%), pentadecanoic acid (2.25%), veridiflorol (1.83%), benzyl alcohol (1.63%) and phenylethyl alcohol (1.25%) were the major compounds. The oil and extracts revealed a remarkable antibacterial effect against Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 19116, Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633, B. cereus SCK 11, Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 6538 and KCTC 1916), Salmonella enteritidis KCTC 12021, S. typhimurium KCTC 2515, Enterobacter aerogenes KCTC 2190 and Escherichia coli ATCC 8739. However, no effect was observed for Pseudomonas aeruginosa KCTC 2004 and E. coli O157:H7 ATCC 43888. Our findings demonstrate that the oil and extracts derived from L. japonica might be a potential source of preservatives for use in the food or pharmaceutical industries.