Abstract
This study was undertaken to examine the chemical composition of essential oil, and tested the efficacy of oil and organic extracts from leaves of Curcuma aromatica Salisb. to control foodborne and spoilage pathogens. Twenty-three compounds representing 94.29% of the total oil were identified. The oil and organic extracts (hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and methanol) of C. aromatica displayed a remarkable antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus (American Type Culture Collection [ATCC] 6538 and Korean Collection for Type Culture [KCTC] 1916), Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 19166, Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633, Pseudomonas aeruginosa KCTC 2004, Salmonella typhimurium KCTC 2515 and Escherichia coli ATCC 8739. Also, the oil had strong detrimental effect on the viable count of the tested bacteria. The results obtained from this study may contribute to the development of new antimicrobial agents with potential applications in food industries as natural preservatives.