Inhibitory Activity of <i>Cinnamomum cassia</i> Essential Oil on <i>Yersinia enterocolitica</i>. A Challenge Test on Sous‐Vide Cooked Deer Meat

ABSTRACT This study assessed the effectiveness of minimal processing techniques on red deer meat, specifically examining the preservation potential of vacuum‐sealed samples combined with Cinnamomum cassia essential oil (CCEO) to inhibit contamination by Yersinia enterocolitica . The study also assessed CCEO's antibacterial and antibiofilm capabilities, with results indicating that CCEO effectively prevented Y. enterocolitica biofilm formation and exhibited substantial antibacterial activity. To monitor microbiological quality, sous‐vide‐treated meat was stored at 4°C for 14 days. The deer meat was cooked at 55°C–65°C for 5–20 min. Furthermore, the antimicrobial effect of CCEO against Y. enterocolitica in vitro and its effect on deer meat models were investigated. CCEO showed good antimicrobial activity against Y. enterocolitica , whereby the size of the inhibition zone was found to be 18.67 mm by disc diffusion method and the minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) was 0.124 and 0.131 mg/mL for MIC 50 and MIC 90 . The minimum biofilm inhibitory concentration (MBIC) was 0.235 and 0.242 ± 0.11 mg/mL for MBIC 50 and MBIC 90 . Results of microbiological quality showed a correlation between increased sous‐vide temperature, longer cooking times, and reduced TVC, CB, and Y. enterocolitica counts. Samples treated with 1% CCEO demonstrated the lowest microbial counts. Increasing temperature and time resulted in a decrease in the number of microorganisms in each group, confirming the antimicrobial effect of CCEO on the sous vide deer meat model. Overall, these results indicate that using the sous‐vide method with CCEO can effectively reduce Yersinia enterocolitica levels, thereby enhancing the shelf life of red deer meat. Throughout the 14‐day storage period, key bacterial species identified included Bacillus cereus , B. circulans , Pseudomonas taetrolens , P. corrugata , P. fragi , P. gessardii , and P. lundensis .