# Beta-cyclodextrin inclusion complexes of citral and linalool inhibit Escherichia coli on cooked chicken: Focus on their synergistic antibacterial effects

## TL;DR

This study shows that combining citral and linalool in beta-cyclodextrin complexes improves their ability to kill E. coli on cooked chicken, enhancing food safety and shelf life.

## Contribution

This is the first study to investigate the synergistic antibacterial effects of citral and linalool against E. coli using beta-cyclodextrin inclusion complexes.

## Key findings

- The combination of citral and linalool damages bacterial cell membranes and inhibits biofilm formation.
- Beta-cyclodextrin complexes of citral and linalool reduced total viable counts in cooked chicken to 3.31 Log CFU/g after 3 days.
- The complexes also reduced TVB-N accumulation and prevented pH increase, improving food quality.

## Abstract

Citral and linalool are two well-studied antibacterial essential oil compounds. However, their synergistic antibacterial effects have not been fully elucidated. This study explored their synergistic mechanism against Escherichia coli and the potential of their β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) inclusion complexes in food preservation. The combination of citral and linalool demonstrated enhanced efficiency in damaging bacterial cell membranes, inducing protein leakage, causing structural collapse, and inhibiting biofilm formation, reducing extracellular polymeric substance (EPS), and impairing bacterial motility compared to the individual use of either compound. Furthermore, the β-CD inclusion complexes of these two compounds exhibited synergistic effects in cooked chicken by inhibiting total viable counts (TVC) to 3.31 Log CFU/g after 3 days of storage, which is lower than the single-use groups (4.07 and 3.78 Log CFU/g for citral and linalool, respectively). These complexes also decreased total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N) accumulation and prevented pH increase, thereby enhancing food safety and quality.

•This work represents the first study on the synergistic effect of citral and linalool against E. coli.•Synergistic mechanism disrupts membranes, increases ROS, and inhibits biofilm formation.•The inclusion complex containing citral and linalool inhibits TVC in cooked chicken.•The inclusion complex containing citral and linalool extends chicken's shelf-life.

This work represents the first study on the synergistic effect of citral and linalool against E. coli.

Synergistic mechanism disrupts membranes, increases ROS, and inhibits biofilm formation.

The inclusion complex containing citral and linalool inhibits TVC in cooked chicken.

The inclusion complex containing citral and linalool extends chicken's shelf-life.