Shigella sonnei (S. sonnei) infection accounted for approximately 75% of annual outbreaks of shigellosis, with the vast majority of outbreaks due to the consumption of contaminated foods (e.g., fresh vegetables, potato salad, fish, beef, etc.). Thus, we investigated the antibacterial effect and mechanism of linalool on S. sonnei and evaluated the effect of linalool on the sensory quality of lettuce. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of linalool against S. sonnei ATCC 25931 was 1.5 mg/mL. S. sonnei was treated with linalool at 1× MIC for 30 min and the amount of bacteria was decreased below the detection limit (1 CFU/mL) in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and Luria-Bertani (LB) medium. The bacterial content of the lettuce surface was reduced by 4.33 log CFU/cm2 after soaking with linalool at 2× MIC. Treatment with linalool led to increased intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, decreased intracellular adenosine-triphosphate (ATP) content, increased membrane lipid oxidation, damaged cell membrane integrity, and hyperpolarized cell membrane potential in S. sonnei. The application of linalool to lettuce had no effect on the color of lettuce compared to the control. The sensory evaluation results showed that linalool had an acceptable effect on the sensory quality of lettuce. These findings indicate that linalool played an antibacterial effect against S. sonnei and had potential as a natural antimicrobial for the inhibition of this foodborne pathogen.
Keywords: Shigella sonnei; antibacterial activity; lettuce; linalool; reactive oxygen species; sensory evaluation.