Mitigating Bovine Mastitis and Raw Milk Pathogen Risks: Inhibition of <i>Staphylococcus xylosus</i> by Mediterranean Plants’ Essential Oil
2025
Rosario De Fazio | Giacomo Di Giacinto | Paola Roncada | Domenico Britti | Rosangela Odore | Paola Badino | Cristian Piras
Milk is frequently susceptible to contamination by potential pathogens, posing risks to both food safety and public health. Cheesemaking often relies on raw milk, where microbial communities—including <i>Staphylococcus xylosus</i>—can play a dual role: (i) contributing to fermentation and (ii) acting as opportunistic pathogens that can be often present in subclinical mastitis and be subjected to carry over in dairy products. In this study, <i>Staphylococcus xylosus</i> was isolated from raw bovine milk (preclinical mastitis) and identified via matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (Biotyper scores: 1.87–2.19). Its susceptibility to erythromycin and to an essential oil blend composed of <i>Myrtus communis</i>, <i>Salvia officinalis</i>, and <i>Cistus ladanifer</i> was evaluated. The essential oil blend produced inhibition zones ranging from 9 mm to 13.3 mm, indicating moderate antibacterial activity. Further Minimum Inhibitory Concentration analysis revealed that <i>Myrtus communis</i>, <i>Salvia officinalis</i>, and the essential oil blend inhibited <i>Staphylococcus xylosus</i> growth at concentrations between 0.5 and 0.25 percent, while <i>Cistus ladanifer</i> required higher levels (1 to 0.5 percent). These findings suggest that selected essential oils—especially in combination—hold promise as complementary antimicrobial agents in food safety and antimicrobial resistance mitigation efforts.
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