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Molecules
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Essential Oils: Antimicrobial Activities and Food Applications
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Essential Oils: Antimicrobial Activities and Food Applications

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Medicinal Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2023) | Viewed by 9046

Special Issue Editors

Dr. José Ricardo Pérez-Correa

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Departamento de Ingeniería Química y Bioprocesos, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
Interests: extraction; purification; natural products; polyphenols; mathematical modelling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Wendy Franco

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Departamento de Ingeniería Química y Bioprocesos, Escuela de Ingeniería, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Ave. Vicuña Mackena 4860, Santiago 7820436, Chile
Interests: natural antimicrobial compounds; encapsulation
Dr. Loreto Valenzuela

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering, School of Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
Interests: biopolymers; edible coatings; biomaterials

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Food spoilage and deterioration is a major problem in the food industry. Although different additives can be used to counteract these problems, there is currently an increasing interest in moving towards natural additives that help to increase the shelf-life and safety of natural and processed food products. Essential oils are a good natural alternative to artificial preservatives and antioxidants. Nevertheless, their effectiveness in foods relies on several factors, including the methods used to extract them, identifying their components that exert antimicrobial activity, the standardization of their composition, and their sensorial impact on the product. Applications to specific food matrices also present challenges, mainly associated with essential oils’ low water solubility and susceptibility to external factors such as pH and temperature. The research community has responded to these challenges by addressing their application into food matrices as ingredients in packaging materials, as well as direct applications as free, encapsulated, emulsified, or nano-emulsified ingredients. In this Special Issue we would like to include reviews and application papers reporting research that simplifies and expands the applicability of essential oils in food products to prevent or retard their deterioration and microbial contamination.

Dr. José Ricardo Pérez-Correa
Dr. Wendy Franco
Dr. Loreto Valenzuela
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • essential oils
  • shelf-life
  • foodborne bacteria
  • deterioration

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 1573 KiB  
Article
GC-MS Analysis and Microbiological Evaluation of Caraway Essential Oil as a Virulence Attenuating Agent against Pseudomonas aeruginosa
by Mona Fekry, Galal Yahya, Ali Osman, Mohammed W. Al-Rabia, Islam Mostafa and Hisham A. Abbas
Molecules 2022, 27(23), 8532; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27238532 - 3 Dec 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2104
Abstract
The emergence of resistant microbes threatens public health on our planet, and the emergence of resistant bacteria against the most commonly used antibiotics necessitates urgent alternative therapeutic options. One way to fight resistant microbes is to design new antimicrobial agents, however, this approach [...] Read more.
The emergence of resistant microbes threatens public health on our planet, and the emergence of resistant bacteria against the most commonly used antibiotics necessitates urgent alternative therapeutic options. One way to fight resistant microbes is to design new antimicrobial agents, however, this approach takes decades of research. An alternative or parallel approach is to target the virulence of bacteria with natural or synthetic agents. Active constituents from medicinal plants represent a wide library to screen for natural anti-virulence agents. Caraway is used as a traditional spice and in some medicinal applications such as carminative, antispasmodic, appetizer, and expectorant. Caraway essential oil is rich in terpenes that were previously reported to have antimicrobial activities. In our study, we tested the caraway essential oil in sub-inhibitory concentration as a virulence agent against the Gram-negative bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Caraway essential oil in sub-inhibitory concentration dramatically blocked protease activity, pyocyanin production, biofilm formation, and quorum sensing activity of P. aeruginosa. The gas chromatography–mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) profile of caraway fruit oil identified 13 compounds representing 85.4% of the total oil components with carvone and sylvestrene as the main constituents. In conclusion, caraway essential oil is a promising virulence-attenuating agent that can be used against topical infections caused by P. aeruginosa. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Essential Oils: Antimicrobial Activities and Food Applications)
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18 pages, 1999 KiB  
Article
Phytochemical Screening, In Vitro and In Silico Studies of Volatile Compounds from Petroselinum crispum (Mill) Leaves Grown in Saudi Arabia
by Ahmed I. Foudah, Mohammad H. Alqarni, Aftab Alam, Mohammad Ayman Salkini, Samir A. Ross and Hasan S. Yusufoglu
Molecules 2022, 27(3), 934; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27030934 - 29 Jan 2022
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 2903
Abstract
The herbal plant Petroselinum crispum (P. crispum) (Mill) is commonly available around the world. In this study, the leaves of the herbal plant P. crispum were collected from the central region of Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia, to explore their in vitro pharmacological [...] Read more.
The herbal plant Petroselinum crispum (P. crispum) (Mill) is commonly available around the world. In this study, the leaves of the herbal plant P. crispum were collected from the central region of Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia, to explore their in vitro pharmacological activity. Essential oil from the leaves of P. crispum was isolated using the hydrodistillation method. The composition of P. crispum essential oil (PCEO) was determined using Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). A total of 67 components were identified, representing approximately 96.02% of the total volatile composition. Myristicin was identified as the principal constituent (41.45%). The in vitro biological activity was assessed to evaluate the antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory potential of PCEO. PCEO showed the highest antimicrobial activity against Candida albicans and Staphylococcus aureus among all the evaluated microbial species. In vitro anti-inflammatory evaluation using albumin and trypsin assays showed the excellent anti-inflammatory potential of PCEO compared to the standard drugs. An in silico study of the primary PCEO compound was conducted using online tools such as PASS, Swiss ADME, and Molecular docking. In silico PASS prediction results supported our in vitro findings. Swiss ADME revealed the drug likeness and safety properties of the major metabolites present in PCEO. Molecular docking results were obtained by studying the interaction of Myristicin with an antifungal (PDB: 1IYL and 3LD6), antibacterial (PDB: 1AJ6 and 1JIJ), antioxidant (PDB: 3NM8 and 1HD2), and anti-inflammatory (3N8Y and 3LN1) receptors supported the in vitro results. Therefore, PCEO or Myristicin might be valuable for developing anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial drugs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Essential Oils: Antimicrobial Activities and Food Applications)
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16 pages, 3453 KiB  
Article
Determination of Chemical Composition, In Vitro and In Silico Evaluation of Essential Oil from Leaves of Apium graveolens Grown in Saudi Arabia
by Ahmed I. Foudah, Mohammed H. Alqarni, Aftab Alam, Mohammad Ayman Salkini, Pravej Alam, Faisal K. Alkholifi and Hasan S. Yusufoglu
Molecules 2021, 26(23), 7372; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26237372 - 4 Dec 2021
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2908
Abstract
The aim of this study was to explore the composition and evaluate the in silico and in vitro antioxidants and antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory effects of Apium graveolens var. dulce leaves essential oil (AGO) collected from Al-Kharj (Saudi Arabia). AGO was isolated using the [...] Read more.
The aim of this study was to explore the composition and evaluate the in silico and in vitro antioxidants and antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory effects of Apium graveolens var. dulce leaves essential oil (AGO) collected from Al-Kharj (Saudi Arabia). AGO was isolated using the hydro-distillation method, and its composition was studied using gas-chromatography-mass Spectrometry (GC–MS), antimicrobial activities using well diffusion assay, and antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities using spectrophotometric methods. The pharmacological activities of their major compounds were predicted using PASS (prediction of activity spectra for substances) and drug-likening properties by ADME (absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion) through web-based online tools. Isocnidilide (40.1%) was identified as the major constituent of AGO along with β-Selinene, Senkyunolide A, Phytyl acetate, and 3-Butylphthalide. AGO exhibited a superior antibacterial activity, and the strongest activity was detected against Gram-positive bacteria and Candida albicans. Additionally, it exhibited a weaker antioxidant potential and stronger anti-inflammatory effects. PASS prediction supported the pharmacological finding, whereas ADMET revealed the safety of AGO. The molecular docking of isocnidilide was carried out for antibacterial (DNA gyrase), antioxidant (tyrosinase), and anti-inflammatory (cyclooxygenase-2) activities. The docking simulation results were involved hydrophilic interactions and demonstrated high binding affinity of isocnidilide for anti-inflammatory protein (cycloxygenase-2). The presence of isocnidilide makes AGO a potential anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial agent. AGO, and its major metabolite isocnidilide, may be a suitable candidate for the future drug development. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Essential Oils: Antimicrobial Activities and Food Applications)
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