The aims of this study were to investigate the antibacterial activity and interaction effect of Litsea cubeba fruit essential oil (EO) and chitosan (CTS) against food-borne bacteria. The zone inhibition of EO, CTS and EO-CTS mixture against Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Salmonella Typhimurium ATCC 14028, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 and Bacillus cereus ATCC 13061 ranged from 39.0-57.3 mm; 11.7-15.5 mm and 29.7-39.3 mm, respectively. The minimum inhibitory concentration of EO and CTS were 5.53 mg/mL and from 600-800 ppm, respectively. The synergistic effects were found when EO and CTS were used in combination with fractional inhibitory concentration values ranging from 0.62-0.67. Indeed, the concentration of EO and CTS were decreased 6-8 and 2 times in combination comparing with individual treatment, respectively. The obtained results demonstrated the potential application of EO-CTS mixture in food preservation.
