Chemical profiles and antibacterial actions of Zanthoxylum acanthopodium DC. Essential oil growing in Indonesia

Foodborne illness caused by pathogens has been a major health problem. Antibacterial resistance renders therapeutic options for treating the condition more limited, hence there is a growing interest in finding novel antibacterial alternatives. Zanthoxylum acanthopodium (Rutaceae) essential oil (ZAEO) has a substantial potential to suppress the growth of bacterial infections. This study was conducted to evaluate antibacterial activity of ZAEO against four species of foodborne pathogens that cause potential infections. The checkerboard assay was used to identify synergistic effect of ZAEO and tetracycline, while bacteriolysis test was applied to evaluate the ability of ZAEO releasing material genetics of bacteria, inhibiting biofilm formation, and suppressing efflux pump. The oils of Z. acanthopodium was evaluated and showed that the highest constituents were limonene and geranyl acetate at 47.13 % and 23.84 %, respectively. These oils have the strongest ability to inhibit Escherichia coli compared to other pathogens with MIC value of 62.5 μg/mL. ZAEO and tetracycline also presented a synergistic effect against E. coli with FICI value of 0.37. Moreover, this combination of ZAEO and antibiotic shown as potential antibacterial agent by several mechanisms such as, decreasing biofilm formation, releasing ions, rupturing membrane cells, and suppressing the efflux pump of E. coli. It can be concluded that ZAEO and tetracycline presented a promising antibacterial activity, which can be explored further to develops antibacterial agents against foodborne pathogens.