1,8-Cineole

Elicitors play a crucial role in plant defense systems, often leading to an enhancement in secondary compounds across various species. The aim of this paper was to assess the effect of elicitors of salicylic acid (SA) and chitosan (CTS) applied to the leaves on essential oil (EO) composition of Achillea gypsicola and some terpenoids and biological activity. Treatments with SA at doses of 0, 0.5, 2, and 8 mM, and CTS at 0, 2, 4, and 8 g L−1 were evaluated. Two harvests were conducted between 2021 and 2022. Elicitors SA at 8 mM and CTS at 2 g L−1 led to an increase in EO productivity. The application of elicitors, particularly at doses of 2 mM SA and 4 g L−1 CTS in A. gypsicola, has the potential to stimulate camphor production. Additionally, TPC and TFC were the highest in treatments of SA 2 mM and CTS 8 g L−1. LC–MS/MS analysis indicated that the synthesis of camphor and 1,8‐cineole enhanced significantly compared to the control group, with enhancements of 213.2% at 8 g L−1 CTS and 125.1% at 4 g L−1 CTS, respectively. The EOs are especially effective against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and Listeria monocytogenes.

Food-borne pathogenic bacteria are a major public health concern globally. Traditional control methods using antibiotics have limitations, leading to the exploration of alternative strategies. Essential oils such as cardamom possess antimicrobial properties and have shown efficacy against food-borne pathogenic bacteria. The utilization of essential oils and their bioactive constituents in food preservation is a viable strategy to prolong the shelf-life of food products while ensuring their quality and safety. To the best of our knowledge, there are no studies that have utilized 1,8-cineole (the main active constituent of cardamom essential oil) as a preservative in meat, so this study might be the first to utilize 1,8-cineole as an antibacterial agent in meat preservation. The application of 1,8-cineole had a significant suppressive impact on the growth rate of Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Salmonella Typhimurium in meat samples stored for 7 days at 4 °C. Additionally, the surface color of the meat samples was not negatively impacted by the application of 1,8-cineole. The minimum inhibitory concentration was 12.5-25 mg/ml, and the minimum bactericidal concentration was 25-50.0 mg/ml. The bacterial cell membrane may be the target of cardamom, causing leakage of intracellular proteins, ATP, and DNA. The obtained data in this study may pave a new avenue for using 1,8-cineole as a new perspective for dealing with this problem of food-borne pathogens and food preservation, such as meat.