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Updated: Oct 14, 2025

Author Spotlight: An Antimicrobial Fabric Using Nano-Herbal Encapsulation of Essential Oils
Published on: April 7, 2023
Combined effect of carvacrol, thymol and nisin against Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella Enteritidis
Caroline Heckler1, Voltaire Sant'anna2, Adriano Brandelli1
1Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Departamento de Ciências de Alimentos, Instituto de Ciência e Tecnologia de Alimentos, Av. Bento Gonçalves, 9500, Prédio 43.212, Campus do Vale, 91501-970 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
Abstract:
The aim of this study was to investigate the combined effect of carvacrol, thymol and nisin against Staphylococcus aureus and the combined effect of carvacrol and thymol against Salmonella Enteritidis. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of carvacrol, thymol, and nisin for S. aureus were 200, 150 and 30 µg/mL, respectively. MIC of carvacrol and thymol for Salmonella Enteritidis was 200 µg/mL. A factorial method of independent variables was then used to study the combined effect of antimicrobials. Results showed that combinations of carvacrol-thymol-nisin (reduction of 1.2 log CFU/mL for MIC and 4.98 log CFU/mL for 2MIC), carvacrol-thymol (reduction of 1.33 log CFU/mL for 2MIC), nisin-thymol (reduction of 3.52 log CFU/mL for 2MIC) and nisin-carvacrol (reduction of 3.41 log CFU/mL for 2MIC) attained a significant inhibition of S. aureus. Similarly, there was significant reduction of Salmonella Enteritidis due to combined effect of thymol-carvacrol (reduction of 4.5 log CFU/mL for MIC and inhibition below detection limit for 2MIC). Therefore, the combinations of natural antimicrobials described in this work showed potential to be used as an additional barrier for food safety.
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