International Journal of Food Microbiology 153 (2012) 6672

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International Journal of Food Microbiology

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijfoodmicro

Antifungal activity by vapor contact of essential oils added to amaranth, chitosan, or

starch edible lms
Ral Avila-Sosa a, b, Enrique Palou a, Mara Teresa Jimnez Mungua a,
Guadalupe Virginia Nevrez-Moorilln c, Add Rhode Navarro Cruz b, Aurelio Lpez-Malo a,
a
b
c

Departamento de Ingeniera Qumica, Alimentos y Ambiental, Universidad de las Amricas Puebla, Cholula, Pue. 72810, Mxico
Facultad de Ciencias Qumicas, Benemrita Universidad Autnoma de Puebla, 14 Sur y Av. San Claudio, Ciudad Universitaria, Puebla, Pue. 72420, Mxico
Facultad de Ciencias Qumicas, Universidad Autnoma de Chihuahua, P.O. Box 1542-C Chihuahua, Chih., Mxico

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 13 April 2011
Received in revised form 3 October 2011
Accepted 22 October 2011
Available online 30 October 2011
Keywords:
Natural antimicrobials
Edible lms
Vapor contact
Essential oils

a b s t r a c t
Antimicrobial agents can be incorporated into edible lms to provide microbiological stability, since lms can be
used as carriers of a variety of additives to extend product shelf life and reduce the risk of microbial growth on
food surfaces. Addition of antimicrobial agents to edible lms offers advantages such as the use of small antimicrobial concentrations and low diffusion rates. The aim of this study was to evaluate inhibition by vapor contact
of Aspergillus niger and Penicillium digitatum by selected concentrations of Mexican oregano (Lippia berlandieri
Schauer), cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum) or lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) essential oils (EOs) added to
amaranth, chitosan, or starch edible lms. Essential oils were characterized by gas chromatographymass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis. Amaranth, chitosan and starch edible lms were formulated with essential oil concentrations of 0.00, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1.00, 2.00, or 4.00%. Antifungal activity was evaluated by determining the
mold radial growth on agar media inoculated with A. niger and P. digitatum after exposure to vapors arising
from essential oils added to amaranth, chitosan or starch lms using the inverted lid technique. The modied
Gompertz model adequately described mold growth curves (mean coefcient of determination 0.991 0.05).
Chitosan lms exhibited better antifungal effectiveness (inhibition of A. niger with 0.25% of Mexican oregano
and cinnamon EO; inhibition of P. digitatum with 0.50% EOs) than amaranth lms (2.00 and 4.00% of cinnamon
and Mexican oregano EO were needed to inhibit the studied molds, respectively). For chitosan and amaranth
lms a signicant increase (pb 0.05) of lag phase was observed among lm concentrations while a signicant
decrease (pb 0.05) of maximum specic growth was determined. Chitosan edible lms incorporating Mexican
oregano or cinnamon essential oil could improve the quality of foods by the action of the volatile compounds
on surface growth of molds.
2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Application of antimicrobial agents could prevent or delay microbial spoilage of food products; nevertheless advances in biological
and chemical analytical methods have raised questions regarding
the safety of some chemical food additives (Avila-Sosa et al., 2010a).
Because of concerns related to the use of chemical additives, consumers prefer natural additives (including antimicrobial agents)
incorporated into food products (Davidson, 2001).
Several research groups are studying the chemical structure
and activity of natural antimicrobials from fruits, vegetables, grains,
herbs, and spices. Efforts have concentrated on the use of natural
extracts, such as those obtained from spices. Essential oils (EOs) are
aromatic oily liquids obtained from plant material and are usually

Corresponding author. Tel.: + 52 222 229 2126; fax: + 52 222 229 2727.
E-mail address: aurelio.lopezm@udlap.mx (A. Lpez-Malo).
0168-1605/$ see front matter 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2011.10.017

mixtures of several components. The inherent aroma and antimicrobial activity of EOs are related commonly to the chemical structure
of their components, the concentration in which the components
are present, and the interactions among them affecting their bioactive
properties. Some studies have demonstrated that EOs have greater
antibacterial activity than their major constituents when tested separately (Burt, 2004). Since EOs are generally recognized as safe (GRAS)
for use as avor additives (Tunc et al., 2007), the possibility of utilizing their antimicrobial effects by adding EOs to the surface of food is
being investigated (Ayala-Zavala et al., 2009; Brul and Coote, 1999;
Holley and Patel, 2005). Despite the high efcacy of the EOs and
their constituents against food-borne pathogens and spoilage microorganisms when in vitro tests are conducted, the same effect in food
products is only achieved when higher concentrations of EOs are utilized. When EOs are applied directly on a food surface by dipping,
powdering or spraying, their highly hydrophobic and volatile active
substances are bound by food components, while other components
of the EOs are partitioned through the product according to their

R. Avila-Sosa et al. / International Journal of Food Microbiology 153 (2012) 6672

afnity with water. To avoid this problem an alternative is the incorporation of essential oil within edible lms. Edible lms can serve as
carriers releasing antimicrobials onto the food surface; controlling
microbial growth. Other advantages of edible lms are the ability to
delay transmission of moisture, oxygen, aroma and solutes, thus
enhancing product shelf life (Cha and Chinnan, 2004; Goni et al.,
2009; Guilbert et al., 2002; Krochta, 1997; Marsh and Bugusu, 2007).
Edible lms can reduce antimicrobial diffusion into the product
since the essential oil forms part of the chemical structure of the
lm and interacts with the polymer and the plasticizer. Antimicrobial
release from the edible lm depends on many factors, including electrostatic interactions between the antimicrobial agent and the polymer chains, osmosis, structural changes induced by the presence of
antimicrobial, and environmental conditions. Compared with direct
application, smaller amounts of antimicrobial agents would be needed
when edible lms are used in order to achieve a specic shelf life
due to a gradual release on food surfaces (Ponce et al., 2008; Sebti
et al., 2005).
Many reported data focus on the discovery of new natural antimicrobials that can be incorporated into edible lms. A number of compounds have been proposed to have antimicrobial activity in foods,
including organic acids, enzymes, bacteriocins, and essential oils
(Cagri et al., 2004). In a previous paper (Avila-Sosa et al., 2010b) we
evaluated by direct contact the antifungal effect of Mexican oregano
essential oil incorporated into different edible lms providing evidence
of inhibition of spoilage microorganisms (A. niger and Penicillium spp.).
Some studies have been published regarding inhibition of several
microorganisms by the vapor-phase of EOs (Edris, 2007; Inouye et al.,
2000, 2001, 2006; Inouye, 2003; Lpez et al., 2005, 2007; Nielsen and
Rios, 2000; Suppakul et al., 2003). Until now, no standard assay exists
to evaluate microbial inhibition by vapor contact of EOs. There are
many methods reported by different authors (Kloucek et al., in press)
the most common are: 1) the overlay method (Du et al., 2008, 2009b)
which is just a simple modication of the disk diffusion assay and can
be related to direct contact of the lms on food surfaces and 2) the
vapor phase method (Lpez et al., 2007) where EOs and microorganisms are placed separately in some sealed environment and can be
related to microbial inhibition from a distance without direct contact
of the lm with the contaminated food.
The aim of this study was to evaluate inhibition of A. niger and
P. digitatum by vapor contact with selected concentrations of Mexican
oregano, cinnamon or lemongrass EOs added to amaranth, chitosan, or
starch edible lms.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Essential oils and chemical characterization
Mexican oregano (L. berlandieri Schauer) essential oil was provided by CiReNA (Natural Resources Research Center of Salaices,
Lpez, Chihuahua, Mexico). Cinnamon bark (Cinnamomum verum)
and lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) were bought at a local market
in Puebla, Mexico. Plant material was authenticated by botanists of
the Department of Biology of Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de
Puebla, Puebla, Mexico by visual inspection and comparison with
the herbarium reference by data base. Lemongrass was washed and
air-dried at room temperature for 3 days and then nely ground
with a mortar and pestle. All EOs were obtained by vapor distillation
for 4 h with a Cleavenger-type apparatus. EOs were analyzed with
a GC Perkin Elmer Turbo Mass Gold MS-Auto system XL (PerkinElmer, Norwalk, CT) with a splitless injector and an FID detector,
equipped with an AT-1 capillary column (30 m 0.25 I.D. 0.25 m).
Helium was used as the carrier gas, and the following conditions
were set for the analysis: injector, 100 C, detector 225 C; the initial
oven temperature was 55 C held for 1 min, followed by a ramp-up
of 3 C/min up to 95 C, and a second ramp-up of 25 C/min up to

67

220 C, and held at the nal temperature for 10 min, for a total run
time of 30 min. The obtained spectra were compared with respective
mass spectra of pure compounds, and also with the mass prole of
the same compounds available from the US National Institute of
Standard Technology (NIST) library (Avila-Sosa et al., 2010b).
2.2. Edible lm preparation
Studied edible lms were made by the casting method, which consists of drying the corresponding lm forming solution (FFS) that had
been applied on a support. FFSs were formulated with amaranth our
(bought at a local market in Puebla, Mexico) with water solution of
4% w/w amaranth our, pH was adjusted to 10.7 with NaOH (0.1 N)
(Tapia-Blcido et al., 2005). Medium molecular weight (450 kDa) of
chitosan (Aldrich Chemical Co. Milwaukee, WI) was prepared with
1.5% w/w chitosan in 1.5% v/v acetic acid, the solution was stirred
overnight at room temperature. High amylose corn starch (CPI Ingredients, Mexico) was used with 1 g of starch, in previously sterilized
10 ml 0.25 N sodium hydroxide and 10 ml distilled water. FFS were
maintained 60 min under stirring conditions (Bertuzzi et al., 2007).
Amaranth and chitosan solutions were sterilized at 121 C for
15 min. To enable lm formation, glycerol (Aldrich Chemical Co.
Milwaukee, WI) 1.3% v/v and Tween 20 (Aldrich Chemical Co.
Milwaukee, WI) 0.5% v/v were added as plasticizers for amaranth
and chitosan lms respectively. Starch FFS was gelatinized in a shaker
water bath at 7880 C for 10 min; when the solution was near 40 C,
glycerol (1.2% v/v) was added (Zivanovic et al., 2005).
FFSs were mixed (IKA High Performance Disperser T18, Chicago,
IL) under aseptic conditions at 20,000 rpm for 1 min at room temperature with the incorporation of EOs at 0.00%, 0.25%, 0.50%, 0.75%,
1.00%, 2.00%, or 4.00% (v/v) nal concentration and poured into
60 mm inner diameter sterile Petri dishes covers. Films were prepared
with 7 ml of FFS per Petri dish (1 lm), dried under 0.35 kg/cm 2
vacuum at 30 C for 12 h. Films were kept in sealed Petri dishes at
4 C until analysis (Avila-Sosa et al., 2010b).
2.3. Thickness
Film thickness (m) was determined on every lm formulation,
reporting means of measurements at 5 points of every lm using a
micrometer (Scala, 111-B, Mexico City, Mexico).
2.4. Fungal strains and spore suspensions
A. niger and P. digitatum were obtained from Universidad de las
Amricas Puebla Food Microbiology Laboratory. They were cultivated
for 5 days at 25 C on potato-dextrose agar plates (PDA, Merck,
Mexico) acidied with 10% tartaric acid, then were used to recover
fungal spores by pouring 9 ml of sterile physiological water (0.90% w/v
of NaCl) on the agar plate surface, followed by a gentle scraping
using a sterile rake to remove the maximum quantity of spores. Spore
suspensions were transferred into sterile tubes. The number of spores
present in the suspension was determined using a hemocytometer and
an optical microscope (Zeiss Primo Star, Gttingen, Germany), and
expressed as number of spores per milliliter (spores/ml). Suspensions
were serially diluted to approximately 1106 spores/ml (Sebti et al.,
2005).
2.5. Vapor contact assay
The inverted lid technique was used (Du et al., 2009a); 10 l of
spore suspension (1 10 6 spores/ml) were placed in the center of
the PDA plate and were dried in a laminar ow hood under aseptic
conditions (Labconco, Kansas City, MO, USA) at room temperature
for 30 min, then Petri dish cover with the corresponding antimicrobial lm was placed to cover the plate with inoculated agar. Radial

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R. Avila-Sosa et al. / International Journal of Food Microbiology 153 (2012) 6672

growth was measured every 24 h during 8 days of incubation 25 C. A

growth control was prepared in parallel, in order to ensure that viable
organisms were present. Every test was performed in triplicate.
2.6. Fungal growth modeling and statistical analysis
Growth data were tted using the modied Gompertz model as
reported by Char et al. (2007):
 
D
Ln t A expf expm e=At 1g
Do

where: Dt (cm) is the average colony diameter at time t (day), and

Do (cm) is the average colony diameter at initial time; A is the maximum mold growth achieved during the stationary phase, m is the
maximum specic growth rate (1/day), is the lag phase (day) and
e = exp (1).
Statistical analyses were performed with the General Linear Model
procedure in Minitab 15 (LEAD Technologies Inc., NJ). Data were
obtained by triplicate with each replicate value obtained from an individual experiment. Signicantly (p b 0.05) different means were
separated with Tukey's test.
3. Results
Chemical analysis of Mexican oregano EO distinguished several compounds, particularly thymol (2.103 g/ml) and carvacrol (0.533 g/ml),

2.5

A 2.5

Ln(Dt/Do)

Ln(Dt/Do)

while others were detected in very low concentrations, such as

p-cymene, 1, 8-cineole, and -terpinen. Cinnamon EO chemical composition presents eugenol (3.402 g/ml), cinnamaldehyde (0.652 g/ml)
and acetoeugenol as major constituents. Finally lemongrass GC-MS
exhibited geranial (2.873 g/ml) and geranial acetate as major components of this essential oil.
Figs. 1, 2, and 3 present the change in mold colony diameter under
the effect of amaranth, chitosan, and starch edible lms respectively,
with added Mexican oregano, cinnamon or lemongrass EOs. The modied Gompertz model adequately tted the experimental data (mean
coefcient of determination 0.991 0.05). Gompertz model can be
utilized to describe mold radial growth, despite the fact that this
model was originally proposed for bacterial growth (Char et al.,
2007). Calculated growth parameters were useful to compare antifungal effects among concentrations of the studied EOs in the edible
lms tested.
For A. niger, amaranth edible lms exhibited the lowest antifungal
effectiveness since only high concentrations of cinnamon (2.00%) and
Mexican oregano (4.00%) EOs exerted antifungal effects (Fig. 1A and
Table 1). Gompertz parameters (Table 1) for amaranth edible lms
with cinnamon (1.00%) and Mexican oregano EOs (2.00%) showed
signicant differences (p b 0.05) in lag phase values with respect to
amaranth lms formulated without EO. In the case of P. digitatum,
amaranth lms (Fig. 1B) exhibited growth inhibition at cinnamon
EO concentrations of 2.00%; for Mexican oregano and lemongrass
EOs at higher concentrations, higher maximum specic growth
rates were observed which were statistically different (p b 0.05)

1.5
1
0.5

1.5
1
0.5

0
0

Time (Days)

Time (Days)

B 2.5

Ln(Dt/Do)

B 2.5

Log(Dt/Do)

1.5
1
0.5

1.5
1
0.5

0
0

Time (Days)
Fig. 1. Effect of amaranth edible lms added with essential oils at selected concentrations [0.00% (), cinnamon 1.00% (), Mexican oregano 2.00% (), Mexican oregano
4.00% (), or lemongrass 4.00% ()] on Aspergillus niger (A) and Penicillium digitatum
(B) growth. Dt is the average colony diameter at time t and Do is the average colony diameter at initial time.

Time (Days)
Fig. 2. Effect of chitosan edible lms added with essential oils at selected concentrations [0.00% (), cinnamon 0.25% (), Mexican oregano 0.25% (), or lemongrass
4.00% ()] on Aspergillus niger (A) and Penicillium digitatum (B) growth. Dt is the average colony diameter at time t and Do is the average colony diameter at initial time.

R. Avila-Sosa et al. / International Journal of Food Microbiology 153 (2012) 6672

from lms without EO (Table 2). The thickness of amaranth lms

(14.333 1.479 m) was not signicantly different (p b 0.05) when
the concentration of the EOs increased.
Chitosan lms exhibited the greatest inhibition against A. niger
and P. digitatum. Inhibition was achieved at low concentrations of
cinnamon and Mexican oregano EOs, statistical differences (p b 0.05)
were observed among m and (Tables 1 and 2) parameters. Lemongrass EO exhibited no inhibition effect against A. niger, however a signicant increase (p b 0.05) in the lag phase (Fig. 2A, Table 2) was
observed when EO concentration increased. Chitosan lm thickness
varied from 5.33 0.836 to 13.26 0.414 m.
A. niger inhibition was obtained with starch edible lms with concentrations of 0.50% cinnamon, 2.00% Mexican oregano and 4.00%
lemongrass EOs (Table 1). Signicant differences (p b 0.05) in the lag
phase (Fig. 3A) among 0.00%, 0.25% of cinnamon, 1.00% of Mexican
oregano, and 0.50% of lemongrass concentrations were observed
(Table 1). A similar effect on P. digitatum growth is seen in Fig. 3B.
Films formulated with Mexican oregano presented inhibition at a
concentration of 0.75%. For starch lms when the concentration of
essential oil increased, the lm thickness varied from 11.533 0.547
to 22.066 0.435 m.

2.5

Log(Dt/Do)

2
1.5
1
0.5
0
0

Time (Days)

B 2.5
2

Ln(Dt/Do)

69

4. Discussion

1.5
1
0.5
0
0

Time (Days)
Fig. 3. Effect of starch edible lms added with essential oils at selected concentrations
[0.00% (), cinnamon 0.25% (), Mexican oregano 0.50% (), Mexican oregano 1.00%
(), or lemongrass 2.00% ()] on Aspergillus niger (A) and Penicillium digitatum (B)
growth. Dt is the average colony diameter at time t and Do is the average colony diameter at initial time.

The present study has demonstrated the potential of EOs added

to edible lms as antifungal agents by vapor contact. Antimicrobial
activities of the different EO vapors could be achieved at lesser amounts
than when applying the EOs in direct contact with a food surface.
Mexican oregano and cinnamon EO were the most effective, their activity due to their constituents as revealed during chemical characterization. Determined concentrations of components of Mexican oregano
EO concur with previous reports (Avila-Sosa et al., 2010b; Dunford
and Silva-Vazquez, 2005; Silva-Vazquez and Dunford, 2005). The main
component of Mexican oregano EO is thymol, and its concentration is
greater when the extracts are obtained from younger plants (ArcilaLozano et al., 2004; Avila-Sosa et al., 2010a). In contrast, in essential
oils from European oregano the concentration of carvacrol is much
higher (7088%) than that of thymol (2%) (Aligiannis et al., 2001;

Table 1
Modied Gompertz model parameters+ (mean standard deviation) for Aspergillus niger growth curves subjected to selected concentrations of Mexican oregano (Lippia berlandieri
Schauer), cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum), or lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) essential oils added to amaranth, chitosan, or starch edible lms by vapor contact.
Edible lm

Gompertz parameters
A

m (1/day)

(day)

Amaranth
Without essential oil
Cinnamon 0.25%
Cinnamon 0.50%
Cinnamon 0.75%
Cinnamon 1.00%
Cinnamon 2.00%
Cinnamon 4.00%
Oregano 0.25%
Oregano 0.50%
Oregano 0.75%
Oregano 1.00%
Oregano 2.00%
Oregano 4.00%
Lemongrass 0.25%
Lemongrass 0.50%
Lemongrass 0.75%
Lemongrass 1.00%
Lemongrass 2.00%
Lemongrass 4.00%

m (1/day)

(day)

Chitosan

2.21a 0.04
2.34a 0.12
2.41a 0.18
2.38a 0.09
1.99b 0.12

2.46a 0.09
2.52a 0.13
2.66a 0.16
2.61a 0.11
2.30a 0.16

2.37a 0.09
2.28a 0.11
2.98a 0.07
2.45a 0.22
1.96b 0.18

3.16a 0.05
2.96a 0.08
2.99a 0.23
3.10a 0.16
1.96b 0.25

2.13a 0.04
2.03a 0.02
2.17a 0.07
2.07a 0.01
2.31a 0.18
1.94b 0.05

2.63a 0.09
2.51a 0.15
2.55a 0.18
2.62a 0.21
2.48a 0.13
1.84b 0.34

0.15a 0.01
0.23a 0.05
0.31a 0.08
0.27a 0.02
2.14b 0.02
>7.00c,
>7.00c,
0.52a 0.01
0.45a 0.13
0.33a 0.11
0.39a 0.08
1.15d 0.07
>7.00c,
0.40a 0.01
0.44a 0.08
0.41a 0.04
0.38a 0.08
0.23a 0.02
0.12a 0.05

m (1/day)

(day)

2.21a 0.01
1.34b 0.18

1.59a 0.09
1.07b 0.04

1.94a 0.03
1.98a 0.16
2.04a 0.11
1.91a 0.20

1.45a 0.12
1.32a 0.16
1.47a 0.01
1.96c 0.24

1.78a 0.21
1.93a 0.14
2.01a 0.11
2.09a 0.07
2.13a 0.13

1.33a 0.15
1.41a 0.12
1.55a 0.18
1.64a 0.11
2.40d 0.28

0.07a 0.03
2.12b 0.13
>7.00c,
>7.00c,
>7.00c,
>7.00c,
>7.00c,
0.12a 0.02
0.27a 0.08
0.33a 0.08
1.13d 0.04
>7.00c,
>7.00c,
0.17a 0.01
0.22a 0.05
0.21a 0.08
0.19a 0.01
1.14d 0.02
>7.00c,

A
Starch

2.40a 0.02

0.85a 0.01

2.40a 0.02
2.40a 0.03
2.40a 0.04
2.40a 0.05
2.40a 0.06
2.29a 0.02

0.85a 0.01
0.85a 0.02
0.85a 0.03
0.85a 0.04
0.85a 0.05
2.65b 0.24

0.00a 0.01
> 7.00b,
> 7.00b,
> 7.00b,
> 7.00b,
> 7.00b,
> 7.00b,
> 7.00b,
> 7.00b,
> 7.00b,
> 7.00b,
> 7.00b,
> 7.00b,
0.00a 0.01
0.00a 0.02
0.00a 0.03
0.00a 0.04
0.00a 0.05
2.16c 0.01

Means followed by a different superscript letter within a column for each studied lm (amaranth, chitosan or starch) are signicantly different (p b 0.05).
+
A: maximum mold growth in the stationary phase; m: maximum specic growth rate; : lag phase.
No growth.

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R. Avila-Sosa et al. / International Journal of Food Microbiology 153 (2012) 6672

Table 2
Modied Gompertz model parameters+ (mean standard deviation) for Penicillium digitatum growth curves subjected to selected concentrations of Mexican oregano (Lippia
berlandieri Schauer), cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum), or lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) essential oils added to amaranth, chitosan, or starch edible lms by vapor contact.
Edible lm

Gompertz parameters
A

m (1/day)

(day)

1.10a 0.45
0.96a 0.12
1.05a 0.36
1.23a 0.09
3.17b 0.29

1.32a 0.35
0.93a 0.04
1.22a 0.17
1.17a 0.12
1.30a 0.09
2.23c 0.23
1.23b 0.08
1.37b 0.16
1.06b 0.22
1.29b 0.42
1.33b 0.26
1.91d 0.22

0.13a 0.03
0.22a 0.07
0.45a 0.18
0.34a 0.09
2.17b 0.01
>7.00c,
>7.00c,
0.42a 0.06
0.54a 0.11
0.33a 0.05
0.14 0.02
0.49a 0.12
1.85b 0.58
0.43a 0.12
0.39a 0.07
0.47a 0.11
0.29a 0.16
0.33a 0.19
1.17d 0.01

Amaranth
Without essential oil
Cinnamon 0.25%
Cinnamon 0.50%
Cinnamon 0.75%
Cinnamon 1.00%
Cinnamon 2.00%
Cinnamon 4.00%
Oregano 0.25%
Oregano 0.50%
Oregano 0.75%
Oregano 1.00%
Oregano 2.00%
Oregano 4.00%
Lemongrass 0.25%
Lemongrass 0.50%
Lemongrass 0.75%
Lemongrass 1.00%
Lemongrass 2.00%
Lemongrass 4.00%

1.97a 0.08
1.90a 0.02
1.89a 0.07
1.95a 0.04
1.82b 0.02

2.02a 0.02
1.94a 0.09
1.97b 0.10
2.10b 0.05
2.03b 0.01
1.71c 0.09
1.95b 0.03
1.99b 0.09
2.10b 0.16
1.99b 0.05
1.92b 0.14
1.76c 0.07

m (1/day)

(day)

2.14a 0.01
1.62b 0.08

1.91a 0.01
1.46b 0.04

1.81c 0.05

0.98b 0.07

2.09a 0.01
1.97a 0.20
2.04a 0.03
1.88a 0.11
2.44a 0.15
2.21a 0.06

1.99a 0.05
1.83a 0.11
1.96a 0.08
1.97a 0.12
1.91a 0.03
3.20c 0.32

0.09a 0.01
0.10a 0.05
>7.00b,
>7.00b,
>7.00b,
>7.00b,
0.05a 0.05
>7.00b,
>7.00b,
>7.00b,
>7.00b,
>7.00b,
>7.00b,
0.11a 0.08
0.08a 0.04
0.12a 0.03
0.10a 0.06
0.09a 0.02
0.06a 0.05

A
Chitosan

m (1/day)

(day)

1.90a 0.12
1.15b 0.21

2.42b 0.16
1.67a 0.07

0.96b 0.15

0.98c 0.19

1.99a 0.10
1.88a 0.01
1.93a 0.04
1.97a 0.13
1.74c 0.08

2.53b 0.16
2.61b 0.06
2.32b 0.22
2.39b 0.14
2.48b 0.05

0.09a 0.02
2.48b 0.03
>7.00c,
>7.00c,
>7.00c,
>7.00c,
>7.00c,
2.35b 0.05
>7.00c,
>7.00c,
>7.00c,
>7.00c,
>7.00c,
0.14a 0.11
0.08a 0.01
0.12a 0.02
0.14a 0.04
1.13d 0.03
>7.00c,

Starch

Means followed by a different superscript letter within a column for each studied lm (amaranth, chitosan or starch) are signicantly different (p b 0.05).
+
A: maximum mold growth in the stationary phase; m: maximum specic growth rate; : lag phase.
No growth.

Chorianopoulos and Kalpoutzakis, 2004). The antimicrobial activity of

oregano EO is due to the presence of both thymol and carvacrol along
with other minor components (Lambert et al., 2001; Sivropoulou et
al., 1996). Inouye et al. (2001), reported concentrations of cinnamaldehyde (63%) in cinnamon bark oil as main component, however the oil
from leaves and bark of some cinnamon bushes has eugenol as the
main component (Ayala-Zavala et al., 2009). Chericoni et al. (2005)
reported a similar chemical composition for cinnamon EO as that
obtained in our study. The main component of lemongrass EO is
geranial with similar concentrations as previously reported (Inouye,
2003; Masuda et al., 2008; Schaneberg and Khan, 2002). Although
major active compounds are known to be responsible for the antimicrobial activity displayed by EOs, some studies reported that minor
compounds might also have synergistic or additive effects (Tyagi and
Malik, 2011).
We have not found any other reports of fungal inhibition by vapor
contact of EOs incorporated into edible lms, however there are many
studies that demonstrated that EOs have antifungal activity at higher
concentrations than those determined here. Inouye et al. (2001,
2006) and Inouye (2003) evaluated the inhibition of a variety of
molds including Aspergillus fumigatus, and A. niger by cinnamon and
lemongrass EOs and mentioned that EOs affected the three stages of
the life cycle of lamentous fungi. A fungicidal effect of cinnamon
and European oregano EOs in Penicillium islandicum and Aspergillus
avus with concentrations near 0.50% has been reported (Lpez et
al., 2005, 2007). Mixtures of cinnamon and clove EOs against A. avus
were tested at ranges of 1.002.00% and results indicated that the
antifungal activity of EOs depends on the experimental assay utilized
(Lpez et al., 2005, 2007). The inhibitory effects of EOs were greater
in the vapor phase than in a liquid state (Guynot et al., 2003; Matan
et al., 2006; Tullio et al., 2006). Tunc et al. (2007) observed inhibition
of Penicillium notatum with single and binary combination of aroma
compounds of carvacrol and cinnamaldehyde. The effect of thyme
EO vapor phase (with a similar concentration of thymol as that
found in Mexican oregano EO) strongly suppressed the sporulation
of A. niger during 60 days of exposure at concentrations of 1.00%
(Segvic-Klaric et al., 2006). Similar results were observed in the
decrease of growth rate and an increase of lag phase for A. avus
(Bluma et al., 2009). Tzortzakis (2009) studied the inhibition of

A. niger with cinnamon EO; fungal sporulation was completely

retarded at concentrations of 0.50%. However, at lower concentrations spore germination was accelerated.
Some investigators incorporated EOs from herbs and spices (such
as cinnamon and lemongrass) in active packaging polypropylene
lms on bakery products, inhibiting by vapor contact Penicillium
commune and A. niger at 2.00% of cinnamon EO, thus increasing the
product shelf life more than three times (Gutirrez et al., 2009).
Recently, Du et al. (2009a, 2009b) incorporated allspice, garlic and
oregano EOs in tomato lms and demonstrated the inhibition by
vapor phase of E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella enterica, and Listeria monocytogenes. We studied the inhibition of A. niger and Penicillium sp. by
direct contact of amaranth, chitosan, and starch edible lms added
with Mexican oregano EO; nding inhibition at 0.50% on starch and
chitosan lms (Avila-Sosa et al., 2010b).
The degree of fungal inhibition by vapor contact of different EOs
incorporated into the three studied edible lms depended directly
on the type of polymer used to form the lm, as different polymers
retain EOs to different degrees. Amaranth lms were least effective
as carriers for the tested EOs. Amaranth contains starch (62%) and
proteins (14%); a combination of these components is ideal for the
formation of edible lms (Tapia-Blcido et al., 2005, 2007). Given
the presence of different kinds of components in the edible lms,
the main compounds of the tested EOs (thymol, carvacrol, eugenol
and geranial) could be interacting with these components, potentially
affecting the antimicrobial activity, thus no signicant differences
(p > 0.05) were observed in maximum growth rate and lag phase
values at low concentrations of EOs. In order to counteract this effect,
higher concentrations of EOs must be added to the lm, promoting
saturation of the system and thus allowing the presence of free
molecules. Valencia-Chamorro et al. (2008) established that diffusion
effectiveness of an antimicrobial incorporated to an edible lm
depends on the polarity of the molecule, its chemical structure, and
the formation of cross-links between molecules, and this would
apply also to volatile compounds. Cagri et al. (2001) reported that
edible lms made with proteins, presented retention of cyclic molecules (such as thymol, eugenol, and carvacrol) while Ponce et al.
(2008) observed that chemical interactions between the amino
groups present in casein edible lms and carboxyl groups could

R. Avila-Sosa et al. / International Journal of Food Microbiology 153 (2012) 6672

block the active antimicrobial sites. In our case, chitosan and starch
lms, which have a single type of polymer, retained volatile compounds less effectively and therefore allowed more molecules into
the vapor phase with resultant increase in antimicrobial activities.
This promoted a fungicidal effect at lower concentrations of cinnamon and Mexican EOs with long lag phases. Cagri et al. (2004) and
Rhim et al. (2006) reported that these kinds of edible lms are able
to disperse different compounds homogeneously. Components that
form the edible lms certainly affect lm structure as can be observed
for cinnamon and Mexican oregano EOs. At higher concentrations
lm thickness increased, so EOs acted as plasticizers. These effects
could favor the antimicrobial activity of incorporated EO and promote
a relatively fast diffusion to vapor phase. Marin et al. (1998) and
Rasooli et al. (2006) suggested that the mode of action on fungal
mycelium of the active and volatile compounds of EOs is due their
lipophilic nature. In general, incorporation of essential oils into edible
lms to enable application by vapor phase requires smaller concentrations compared with those required for direct application of
EO to inhibit different types of microorganisms (Cagri et al., 2004;
Ponce et al., 2008; Sebti et al., 2005).
Microbial modeling was useful to evaluate fungal inhibition by
volatile compounds of EOs and compare the capabilities of different
fungal spores to colonize food surfaces. Soylu et al. (2007) reported
that exposure to volatile compounds of EOs resulted in alterations
in the hyphal morphology; such modications may be related to the
effect of EOs in enzymatic reactions regulating wall synthesis. The
lipophilic properties of oil components may also have aided in the
ability of the EO to penetrate plasma membrane.
Chitosan edible lms incorporating Mexican oregano or cinnamon
EO can inhibit A. niger and P. digitatum by vapor contact at lower EO
concentrations than those required for amaranth and starch edible
lms. Chitosan edible lms improved the release of the antimicrobial
compounds of EOs. Applications of these edible lms could improve
the quality of foods by the action of volatile compounds on surface
growth of molds.
Acknowledgments
We acknowledge nancial support from the National Council for
Science and Technology of Mexico (CONACyT) for the project Combinacin de Factores Fsicos y Qumicos para la inactivacin de Microorganismos Relacionados con Alimentos. Author Avila-Sosa gratefully
acknowledges nancial support for his PhD studies from CONACyT
and Universidad de las Amricas Puebla.
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