Lemon essential oil nanoemulsions: Potential natural inhibitors against Escherichia coli

Wenbin Xiao; Zhipeng Gao; Ting Liu; Weiming Zhong; Sifan Jiang; Mingwang He; Fuhua Fu; Gaoyang Li; Donglin Su; Jiajing Guo; Yang Shan

doi:10.1016/j.fm.2023.104459

Lemon essential oil nanoemulsions: Potential natural inhibitors against Escherichia coli

Food Microbiol. 2024 May:119:104459. doi: 10.1016/j.fm.2023.104459. Epub 2023 Dec 29.

Authors

Wenbin Xiao¹, Zhipeng Gao², Ting Liu³, Weiming Zhong², Sifan Jiang², Mingwang He², Fuhua Fu³, Gaoyang Li³, Donglin Su³, Jiajing Guo⁴, Yang Shan⁵

Affiliations

¹ College of Food Science and Technology, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, Hunan Province, China; Hunan Agriculture Product Processing Institute, Dongting Laboratory, International Joint Lab on Fruits &Vegetables Processing, Quality and Safety, Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Fruits &Vegetables Storage, Processing, Quality and Safety, Hunan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changsha, 410125, Hunan Province, China.
² Fisheries College, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, 410128, Hunan Province, China.
³ Hunan Agriculture Product Processing Institute, Dongting Laboratory, International Joint Lab on Fruits &Vegetables Processing, Quality and Safety, Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Fruits &Vegetables Storage, Processing, Quality and Safety, Hunan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changsha, 410125, Hunan Province, China.
⁴ Hunan Agriculture Product Processing Institute, Dongting Laboratory, International Joint Lab on Fruits &Vegetables Processing, Quality and Safety, Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Fruits &Vegetables Storage, Processing, Quality and Safety, Hunan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changsha, 410125, Hunan Province, China. Electronic address: guojiajing1986@163.com.
⁵ College of Food Science and Technology, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, Hunan Province, China; Hunan Agriculture Product Processing Institute, Dongting Laboratory, International Joint Lab on Fruits &Vegetables Processing, Quality and Safety, Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Fruits &Vegetables Storage, Processing, Quality and Safety, Hunan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changsha, 410125, Hunan Province, China. Electronic address: sy6302@sohu.com.

PMID: 38225037
DOI: 10.1016/j.fm.2023.104459

Abstract

Lemon essential oil (LEO) is a common natural antibacterial substance, and encapsulating LEO into nanoemulsions (NEs) can improve their stability and broaden its application. Our study aimed to investigate the bacterial inhibitory effect of LEO-NEs against Escherichia coli (E. coli). Results showed that the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of LEO-NEs was 6.25 mg/mL, and the time-kill curve showed that E. coli were significantly killed by LEO-NEs after 5 h of treatment at 1MIC. Flow-cytometry analysis showed that LEO-NEs adversely affected the cell-membrane depolarisation, cell-membrane integrity, and efflux pump function of E. coli. Confocal laser scanning microscopy demonstrated that 8MIC of LEO-NEs induced changes in the cell-membrane permeability and cell-wall integrity of E. coli. Proteomic results suggested that the mode of action LEO-NEs against E. coli was to enhance bacterial chemotaxis and significantly inhibit ribosomal assembly. They may also affect butyric acid, ascorbic acid and aldehyde metabolism, and sulphur-relay system pathways. In conclusion, LEO-NEs had potential application as a natural antibacterial agent for the control of E. coli in the food industry.

Keywords: Antibacterial activities; Escherichia coli; Lemon essential oil; Nanoemulsions; Proteomic analysis.

MeSH terms

Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology
Bacteria
Cell Membrane
Escherichia coli*
Oils, Volatile* / pharmacology
Proteomics

Substances

Anti-Bacterial Agents
Oils, Volatile