Evaluation of the In Vitro Disinfection Potential of the Phytochemicals Linalool and Citronellal Against Biofilms Formed by Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus

This study aimed to analyze the potential of phytochemicals linalool and citronellal against E. coli and S. aureus biofilms and to compare the results to sodium hypochlorite. We tested the minimal inhibitory concentration, bacterial cell reduction, respiratory chain dehydrogenase activity, cell membrane integrity, and biomass reduction. The results show the lowest inhibitory concentration for both E. coli and S. aureus for sodium hypochlorite, followed by a combination of linalool and citronellal, the sole use of linalool, and the sole use of citronellal, respectively. Furthermore, we found that linalool was effective in biofilm cell reduction, cell respiratory inhibition, membrane integrity, and biomass reduction, while citronellal was less effective. Overall, this indicates that linalool has some benefits in biofilm management, especially with a focus on reducing toxic sodium hypochlorite consumption.