Effects of Zataria multiflora Boiss. essential oil and nisin on Bacillus cereus ATCC 11778

The growth of the organisms was strongly affected by increasing EO concentration to 0.03% in combination with N concentrations used at the selected temperatures in this study. The growth of the organism was completely inhibited at combinations EO ⩾ 0.015%, N ⩾ 1.5 μg ml−1, T ⩽ 30 °C and pH ⩽ 7.4 during 43 days of storage in this study. This synergistic effect of EO and N was enhanced in lower pH values (6.5 and 6.0) in the present study. The growth of organism was completely inhibited at combinations of EO ⩾ 0.005 and N ⩾ 1.5 μg ml−1 at pH = 6.0, and EO ⩾ 0.03 and N ⩾ 0.5 μg ml−1 at pH ⩽ 6.5 during the study at the selected Ts (30, 20 and 10 °C).