Composition and Antibacterial Activity of Essential Oils of Flos Sophorae Immaturus

Essential oil was extracted from Flos Sophorae Immaturus (FSI) by simultaneous distilling-extraction (SDE) and vapor-distillation extraction (VDE), gave a yield of 2 and 1.2 mg/g, based on GC/MS analysis, 44 and 29 components were identified in SDE and VDE extracts, respectively. Essential oil extracted by SDE was active against common foodborne pathogens, however, it did not show any activity against fungus. The minimal lethal concentration (MLC) was 0.39 L/mL using the spread-plate method. The antibacterial activity might be due to phenols, such as eugenol in the essential oil. For essential oil-treated Staphylococcus aureus, pretreatment with potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate, or the essential oil markedly lowered bacterial count (p 0.05), suggesting that FSI essential oil might be used in food preservation to reduce the concentration of chemical preservatives.