Behavior of Listeria monocytogenes in beef Sous vide cooking with Salvia officinalis L. essential oil, during storage at different temperatures

Abstract This study aims to evaluate the effect of Salvia officinalis L. (sage) essential oil (EO) on behavior of L. monocytogenes ATCC679 inoculated in beef processed by Sous-vide cook-chill (SVCC) and stored at 2 or 8 °C during 28 days. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of L. monocytogenes was obtained with 31.3 μL/mL of EO. D values were determined for samples with EO (21′39″) and without EO (21′17″). Beef samples were inoculated with L. monocytogenes at a concentration of 1 × 108 CFU/mL and vacuum-packed after EO addition at MIC value. Three heat treatments (F) were applied to reduce 1-log10 (F1), 2-log10 (F2) and 3-log10 (F3). EO composition was identified by gas-chromatography mass-spectrometry analysis. The main compounds identified were β-pinene (11.70%), camphor (8.21%), β-thujene (7.82%), 1.8-cineole (5.19%), α-humulene (6.07%) and endoborneol (4.87%).A reduction of approximately 1 log (CFU/g) of L. monocytogenes was observed in EO samples, compared to control samples at 2 °C. At 8 °C, despite exponential development from day 14, lower L. monocytogenes counts were observed in EO samples. Data showed that sage EO can help to control L. monocytogenes growth. However a possibility of using sage as a natural preservative, must be combined with other agents to control microbial growth more effectively.