Antibacterial activity of the essential oil of Satureja wiedemanniana against Bacillus species isolated from chicken meat.

The antimicrobial activity of the essential oil (EO) of Satureja wiedemanniana against Bacillus spp. isolated from chicken meat was investigated. Thirty-seven Bacillus strains were isolated from 15 chicken meat samples and examined for proteolytic and lipolytic activities by agar well diffusion assay. Of 37 Bacillus isolated from raw chicken samples, which based on a clear zone diameter of ≥ 6 mm in agar well diffusion assays for proteolytic activity, 19 Bacillus strains were selected for this study. Bacillus licheniformis T11(1) and Bacillus lentus T10(14) have high proteolytic activity (14.0 mm zone diameter), whereas B. licheniformis T4(2) and Bacillus mycoides T 5(5) have high lipolytic activity (12.0 mm zone diameter). Thirty-two components representing 98.10% of the composition of the S. wiedemanniana EO were identified using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Both S. wiedemanniana EO and its main component p-cymene exhibited strong antimicrobial activity against some Bacillus strains. The results of this study confirmed the possibility of using S. wiedemanniana EO as a protective agent to chicken meat. But, detail studies are still needed to elucidate the effects of S. wiedemanniana EO against other spoilage microorganisms.