American Journal of Essential Oils and Natural Products

AUTHOR(S): Oleg Maksimov

ABSTRACT:
There is growing interest in natural ingredients that can be used as preservatives in the food industry. Significant attention is dedicated to essential oils as they often exhibit antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. Thymus vulgaris L. essential oil is considered to be particularly promising based on the preliminary studies. Still, significant disagreement exists between the reported data. This disagreement can be explained by the presence of different chemotypes of T. vulgaris essential oil. In this article, I analyze recent research focusing on the thymol chemotype (CT) of T. vulgaris (>40% thymol). Reviewed studies demonstrate that this essential oil exhibits a broad scale antimicrobial activity against foodborne pathogens. When used with bread and dairy products, it can improve food preservation without degrading the sensory perception of a product. Results demonstrate that T. vulgaris Thymol CT essential oil has a very strong potential applicability as an antimicrobial agent in the food industry.

Pages: 19-22  |  3650 Views  427 Downloads