Antimicrobial effects of a microemulsion and a nanoemulsion on enteric and other pathogens and biofilms

Paula C. Teixeira*, Gonçalo M. Leite, Ricardo J. Domingues, Joana Silva, Paul A. Gibbs, João Paulo Ferreira

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

137 Citations (Scopus)
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Abstract

Some microemulsions and nanoemulsions may have antimicrobial properties and be effective anti-biofilm agents. We examined the abilities of two fine emulsions, designated BCTP and TEOP, to inactivate suspensions of vegetative cells of Salmonella spp. Escherichia coli 0157:H7 (VT-), Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria monocytogenes. BCTP is an O/W nanoemulsion of soybean oil and tri-n-butyl phosphate emulsified with Triton X-100, while TEOP is an O/W microemulsion of ethyl oleate with Tween 80 as emulsifier and n-pentanol as a co-emulsifier. BCTP was effective in reducing the cell numbers of L. monocytogenes, while TEOP was effective against all five organisms investigated. The abilities of these emulsions to reduce preformed biofilms of the five bacteria were also investigated. With the exception of the biofilm formed by L. monocytogenes, which surprisingly was not significantly affected by BCTP, all biofilms were inhibited by both BCTP and TEOP.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)15-19
Number of pages5
JournalInternational Journal of Food Microbiology
Volume118
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Aug 2007

Keywords

  • Antimicrobial effect
  • Biofilms
  • Foodborne pathogens
  • Microemulsions
  • Nanoemulsions

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