Antibacterial effect of geraniol against strains of Enterobacter cloacae isolated from meat products

The One Health concept in veterinary medicine helps to understand the connections between animals, people and the environment. In addition, it promotes policies and research initiatives to combat antibacterial resistance. Plants can be considered an appropriate source for drugs and act as adjuvants or modifiers of bacterial resistance. Among these, the species Cymbopogon martinii stands out, which has geraniol as its main constituent. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate the antibacterial action of geraniol against strains of Enterobacter cloacae contaminating food. Therefore, the pharmacological tests were performed based on the determination of the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and the Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC), by the broth microdilution technique, in addition to the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration of Adhesion (MIC), by the tube technique, as well as the study of the association of the product (geraniol) with synthetic antibacterials, by means of the disk diffusion technique. Therefore, it was found that geraniol had a significant inhibitory effect against the growth of different strains of E. cloacae, with a MIC50 value equal to 500 μg/mL. In addition, it had a bactericidal action for 3 of the 5 strains analyzed, with a MBC value of 1000 and 500 μg/mL. Regarding the effect of the association of geraniol with synthetic antimicrobials, a higher percentage of synergism was observed when associated with ampicillin and gentamicin. In addition, it was observed that, in the proportions used, both geraniol and the positive control presented antiadherent effects against the studied strain. In this sense, the compound demonstrated an antibacterial potential against food-borne E. cloacae strains, and further in-depth studies are necessary to explore its effect, so that the compound can be used alone or associated with synthetic antimicrobials to combat bacteria pathogenic to humans.