Antimicrobial Activity of Eugenol Against and Its Application in Skim Milk.

is a foodborne pathogen widely distributed in the large-scale catering industry and produces spores. The study explored the antibacterial activity, potential mechanism of eugenol against , and spores with germination rate. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC; 0.6 mg/mL) of eugenol to six strains was compared with the control; treated with eugenol had a longer lag phase. Eugenol at a concentration of more than 1/2MIC decreased viable (∼5.7 log colony-forming unit [CFU]/mL) counts below detectable limits within 2 h, and eugenol of 3MIC reduced (∼5.9 log CFU/mL) in skim milk below detectable limits within 30 min. The pH values of skim milk were unaffected by the addition of eugenol. The Δ values below 2 show that the color variations of skim milk were not visible to the human eye. For sensory evaluation, eugenol did not significantly affect the color or structural integrity of the skim milk. It had a negative impact on the flavor and general sensory acceptance of the treated milk. Eugenol hyperpolarized cell membrane, decreased intracellular ATP concentration, and increased intracellular reactive oxygen species contents and extracellular malondialdehyde contents, resulting in the cell membrane of being damaged and permeabilized, and cell morphology being changed. In addition, according to the viable count, confocal laser scanning microscopy, and spore morphology changes, eugenol reduced the germination rate of spores. These findings suggest that eugenol can be used as a new natural antibacterial agent to control and spores in the food production chain.