characteristics and antibacterial effect of chitosan coatingnanoemulsion containing zataria multiflora and bunium persicumessential oils against listeria monocytogenes

Background: nowadays, finding natural compounds with antimicrobial properties against pathogens is very important, especially for the food and drug industries. objectives: the antibacterial activity of chitosan coatings nanoemulsion (ne) containing zataria multifloraand bunium persicumessential oils (eos) was evaluated in a food model (chicken breast fillets) during 15 days of refrigerated storage. methods: the chicken breast fillets were divided into seven groups: control, chitosan 2%, sonicated chitosan 2%, chitosan ne coating containing z. muitifloraeo (zmeo, 0.5%, and 1 %) and chitosan ne coating containing b. persicumeo (bpeo, 0.5%, and 1 %). characteristics of chitosan ne coatings containing eos were analyzed. moreover, the antimicrobial activity of coatings against listeria monocytogeneswas investigated. results: the results showed good properties of the ne coatings. the analysis of eos revealed that the major components for zmeo were carvacrol (51.55%) and thymol (25.49%). in addition, the main components of bpeo were p-cumic aldehyde (38.39%) and p-cymene (18.36%). all treatments exhibited antimicrobial properties; however, the best result was recorded for chitosan ne coating containing 1% zmeo, which was the lowest amount of l. monocytogenes(7.61 log cfu/g). moreover, l. monocytogenesanalysis for chitosan ne coating containing 1% bpeo samples was 7.73 log cfu/g. conclusions: therefore, based on the results of this study, chitosan ne coating containing zmeo and bpeo as natural preservatives can be recommended for meat products, especially chicken meats.