Effect of Some Essential Oils as Natural Food Preservatives on Commercial Grated Carrots

In the present work, the effects of lemon verbena (Lippia citriodora), cypress (Cupressus sempervirens) and lemon-balm (Melissa offcinalis) essential oils against the growth of three microorganisms (potentially dangerous to the safety of foods) were evaluated. The three oils were chosen and tested on grated carrots inoculated with bacteria and stored at 8°C until 8 days to simulate the market sale. The most resistant of the three strains against all the tested oils wasEscherichia coli, whileListeria strain was the most easily influenced. An important interaction was revealed with the packaging type: oxygen diffusion greatly influenced the bacteria survival at the end of the experiment.