The aim of this work was to study the antibacterial effect of coriander (Coriandrum sativum) essential oil against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Antibacterial susceptibility was evaluated using classical microbiological techniques concomitantly with the use of flow cytometry for the evaluation of cellular physiology. Our results showed that coriander oil has an effective antimicrobial activity against all bacteria tested. Also, coriander oil exhibited bactericidal activity against almost all bacteria tested, with the exception of Bacillus cereus and Enterococcus faecalis. Propidium iodide incorporation and concomitant loss of all other cellular functions such as efflux activity, respiratory activity and membrane potential seem to suggest that the primary mechanism of action of coriander oil is membrane damage, which leads to cell death. The results obtained herein further encourage the use of coriander oil in antibacterial formulations due to the fact that coriander oil effectively kills pathogenic bacteria related to foodborne diseases and hospital infections.

Antimicrobial active packaging has emerged as an effective technology to reduce microbial growth in food products increasing both their shelf-life and microbial safety for the consumer while maintaining their quality and sensorial properties. In the last years, a great effort has been made to develop more efficient, long-lasting and eco-friendly antimicrobial materials by improving the performance of the incorporated antimicrobial substances. With this purpose, more effective antimicrobial compounds of natural origin such as bacteriocins, bacteriophages and essential oils have been preferred over synthetic ones and new encapsulation strategies such as emulsions, core-shell nanofibres, cyclodextrins and liposomes among others, have been applied in order to protect these antimicrobials from degradation or volatilization while trying to enable a more controlled release and sustained antimicrobial action. On that account, this article provides an overview of the types of antimicrobials agents used and the most recent trends on the strategies used to encapsulate the antimicrobial agents for their stable inclusion in the packaging materials. Moreover, a thorough discussion regarding the benefits of each encapsulation technology as well as their application in food products is presented.

Staphylococcus aureus is a Gram-positive pathogen which is able to form biofilms, exhibiting a more pronounced resistance to antibiotics and disinfectants. The hurdles posed in eradicating biofilms have driven the search for new compounds able to fight these structures. Phenolic compounds constitute one of the most numerous and ubiquitous group of plant secondary metabolites with many biological activities. The aim of the present work was to study the potential antimicrobial and antibiofilm properties of gallic, caffeic, and chlorogenic acids against S. aureus as well to elucidate its mechanism of action. It was concluded that the phenolic acids studied in this work have antistaphylococcal properties. For instance, gallic acid is able to influence the adhesion properties of S. aureus. The phenolic acids tested were also able to inhibit the production of α-hemolysin by this microorganism, with the exception of chlorogenic acid. Regarding its mechanism of action, caffeic acid interferes with the stability of the cell membrane and with the metabolic activity of the cells of S. aureus.