Antibacterial activity of zinc oxide nanoparticles on standard strains and isolates of Escherichia coli and Listeria monocytogenes from food

Due to the human need for food, any change in the quality and quantity of food will affect the health of the community. It is important to remove microbial contaminants from food during the production, storage and supply phases. In this study, the antibacterial effects of nanoparticles of zinc oxide on two Escherichia coli and Listeria monocytogenes were investigated.

In this study, zinc oxide nanoparticles were prepared from zeolite and quantified by X-ray fluorescence. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of nanoparticles of zinc oxide were determined using a disc diffusion method. Graphpad prism statistical software was used for data analysis and ANOVA was used for analysis of variance. Significant limit was set at 0.05 (P≤0.05).

Based on the results of this study, the MIC value of nanoparticles of zinc oxide for all tested bacteria was 4 mg/ml, and the MBC values for standard strain and Escherichia coli isolates were 8 and 4 mg/ml, respectively. The standard strain and isolate of Listeria monocytogenes was calculated to be 4 mg/ml.

The present study showed that zinc oxide nanoparticles can be used as a deterrent against the pathogens of the materials and avoid contamination.