4. Conclusions

Even though thymol was not found as a component of tested thyme essential oil, its antimicrobial activity did not seem to be affected, exhibiting minimum inhibitory and bactericidal concentrations similar or better than those found in other published reports. As expected, more thyme essential oil is needed to inhibit bacteria in food model media with high protein content than for laboratory media. Experiments with higher concentrations of tested thyme essential oil should be carried out seeking more pronounced log reductions in both studied bacterial cocktails. Additionally, complementary experiments are needed to validate the models obtained in this study.

Looking for the Killer Combination: pH, Protein, and Thyme Essential Oil Interactions that… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.90099
