Antimicrobial activity and chemical characterization of Algerian Thymus algeriensis essential oil incorporated in active packaging for chicken meat preservation.

Thymus algeriensis (T. algeriensis), a North African thyme species, exhibits notable antimicrobial potential. This study evaluated the antibacterial activity of its essential oil (EO) and assessed its application in active cellophane packaging for chicken meat preservation. The EO was impregnated onto cellophane sheets and applied in situ on chicken thighs artificially contaminated with Escherichia coli ATCC 25,922 (E. coli) and stored at 5 ± 1 °C for 96 h. The EO chemical composition was determined by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Antimicrobial activity was assessed in vitro using disc-diffusion, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC), and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) assays against E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25,923 (S. aureus), Candida albicans ATCC 71,453 (C. albicans), and Aspergillus niger ATCC 16,404 (A. niger). Results showed a marked reduction in microbial load in EO-treated samples compared with controls, demonstrating the effectiveness of EO-based active packaging in inhibiting bacterial growth under refrigerated storage. These findings support the potential of T. algeriensis EO as a bioactive natural preservative for active food packaging systems to enhance food safety and extend shelf life.