RESUMO
Staphylococcal food poisoning does not result from the ingestion of S. aureus per se, but rather from enterotoxins which are pre-formed within the food. There is no report on effect of Zataria multiflora Boiss. essential oil on enterotoxin production by this microorganism. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of different concentrations of Zataria multiflora Boiss. essential oil on enterotoxin production by S. aureus. This study was done as a factorial model using different concentrations of EO [0, 0.005, 0.015 and 0.03%].The bacterial growth was evaluated during 43 days of incubation and enterotoxin production was analyzed using a enterotoxin assay kit. The growth of the organism was completely inhibited by the EO=0.03%. Enterotoxin production was not affected by sub-inhibitory concentration of EO at level of 0.005%, while it was significantly [p < 0.05] inhibited by increasing subinhibitory concentration of EO to 0.015%. The adverse effect of sub-inhibitory concentration of Zataria multiflora Boiss. EO on enterotoxin production by S. aureus, demonstrated in this study, suggests the potential application of this EO as a natural antimicrobial in foods