Chemical composition, antibiofilm activities of Tunisian spices essential oils and combinatorial effect against Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilm

Abstract This study describes the chemical composition, the antibacterial and antibiofilm activities of essential oils (EOs) from Piper nigrum (Pn.EO), Cuminum cyminum (Cc.EO), Cinnamomum verum (Cv.EO) and Curcuma longa (Cl.EO) frequently used in Tunisian cuisine. The chemical composition analyses evaluated by GC-MS showed high contents of Eugenol (57.87%) in Cv.EO. While, Cl.EO contained β-Turmerone (43.98%) and α-Curcumene (30.34%) as major constituents. The main component of Cc.EO was Cuminaldehyde (28.22%), whereas Pn.EO was mainly characterized by the abundance of Limonene (19.99%), β-Caryophyllene (16.8%), α-Pinene (15.88%), δ-3-Carene (13.05%) and β-Pinene (12.74%) as main components. Our results revealed two different groups of the present studied EOs. The first group combined the Pn.EO and Cc.EO, while the second combined the two other essential oils Cl.EO and Cv.EO. Cv.EO showed the strongest antibacterial activity against the majority of tested strains. The anti-adherence and eradication activities of EOs were tested against Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilm. The highest anti-adherence effect was observed for Cv.EO, which inhibited the biofilm formation even at low concentrations (0.78 μL/mL). Results point to the possibility of using Cv.EO as food preservatives in the traditional preparations and in the food industry.