Geraniol as a Quorum Sensing inhibitor of Erwinia carotovora and Pseudomonas fluorescens isolated from vegetable and their dual‐species biofilm production on stainless steel

Biofilm formation is mainly controlled by quorum sensing (QS). To prevent biofilm formation on stainless steel, the QS inhibitory (QSI) effect of 10 essential oil (EO) components on dual-species bacterial biofilm (Erwinia carotovora and Pseudomonas fluorescens) were screened. Geraniol showed the best QSI effect on dual-species biofilm with an inhibition rate of 61.27%. Meanwhile, geraniol at the sub-MIC significantly restrained the swimming, swarming, twitching motilities, exopolysaccharide production, and biofilm biomass of the two bacterial biofilms. The reduction of QS regulatory factors was possibly attributed to the inhibition of AI-2 signal molecule and thereby controlled the formation of biofilm. The viable cells in the dual-species biofilm formed on stainless steel were also decreased by using geraniol at sub-MICs. Such an inhibition also showed a good dose-dependence. Results of this study indicated that geraniol can be utilized as a QSI to achieve biofilm control on foods. Practical applications EOs can be utilized as a group of natural food preservers. However, high value and significant flavoring impact restrict their applications in the food industry. Facing these issues, taken Eos as QSI would be helpful to achieve microbial control at a low concentration level. Geraniol is an important component in many essential oils. In this study, the QSI effect of geraniol on the AI-2 signal molecule production, and biofilm formation in Erwinia carotovora and Pseudomonas fluorescens were elucidated. These findings would support that geraniol can be further developed as a promising strategy to achieve postharvest preservation of vegetables.