Effects of Teucrium polium L. essential oil on the growing of Clostridium botulinum type A identified from traditional dairy products

Clostridium botulinum is one of the major causes of bacterial food intoxication especially in the vacuum-packed foods and meat products. Preventing such contamination is a major concern in the food industries. The current study was aimed to investigate the presence of Clostridium botulinum type A in the traditional dairy products and the possible effects of Teucrium polium L. essential oil(leaf and /or flower) on the growing of microorganism, in vitro. Out of 160 samples of traditionally made kashk and dough, only one sample was isolated (type A) using the selective culture, while, one sample of dough (1.25%) and two cases (3.75%) of kashk were respectively found positive to type A and B of the bacteria, using multiple PCR assay. The major components of the flower extract were: α-Pinene (16.67%) and Valerianol (8.32%), and for the leaf extract: α-Pinene (14.79%), Myrcene (10.9%) and Germacrene (10.44%), were the major components. In order to evaluate the anti-microbial effects of the leaf and flower, 10 µl of each extract was employed using the disc diffusion technique. At 40 and 80 µl/ml essential oil concentrations, the diameters of the growing inhibition zones were 9 and 8 millimeters for the leaf essential oil, and 12 and 8 millimeters for flower essential oil. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of both essential oilwas 160µl/ml. The results of the present study may recommend the use of Teucrium polium L. essential oil as a natural component to reduce and/or to inhibit the growing of Clostridium botulinum, in foodstuffs.