Investigating the Phytochemical, Antibacterial and Antifungal Effects of Thymus Vulgaris and Cuminum Cyminum Essential Oils

Background and objective: phytochemical and antimicrobial properties of thymus vulgaris and cuminum cyminum essential oils (eos) against foodborne pathogens and candida species in vitro were assessment. methods: the eos was extracted using a clevenger apparatus. analysis of the eo constituents was performed using gas chromatography-mass spectrophotometry. the antibacterial activity of eos against bacillus cereus, listeria monocytogenes, escherichia coli and salmonella typhimurium were evaluated in agar culture medium. the minimum inhibitory concentration (mic) of these eos against fungal strains of candida albicans, c. tropicalis, c. parapsilosis and c. dubliniensis was measured. results: thymol (64.45%) and cuminaldehyde (29.02%) were the main components of the thymus vulgaris and cuminum cyminum eos, respectively. the largest inhibition zone diameter in the thymus vulgaris and cuminum cyminum eos in the agar disk diffusion method was related to b.cereus with 30 and 21 mm diameter, respectively. the largest growth inhibition zone diameter by the thymus vulgaris eo in the well diffusion method was 21 mm and against b.cereus. the mic of thymus vulgaris eo in the microdilution method was 0.09% against all the four candida strains. the mic of cuminum cyminum eo against strains of c. albicans and c. tropicalis was 0.39%, while it was found as 0.19% against c. parapsilosis and c. dubliniensis. conclusion: in this study, cuminum cyminum and thymus vulgaris eos show suitable inhibitory effects against the growth of pathogenic bacteria and candida species. this study has raised the possibility of using these eos as an alternatives chemical preservative in the foods.