Abstract

Microbiological! safety! in! food! industry! are! always! a! concern! regarding! sublethal! tolerance! in! bacteria! for! common!and!natural!sanitizers.!Natural!bacteriocins,!such!as!nisin!(NIS),!may!negatively!interfere!in!the!ef"- ciency!of!major!compounds!of!essential!oils!against!foodborne!pathogenic!bacteria.!However,!nanoemulsioned! forms! increase! the! bactericidal! potential! of! natural! compounds! acting! synergistically.! In! this! study,! cinna- maldehyde!(CIN),! citral! (CIT),! and! linalool! (LIN)! were! evaluated! independently,! associated! with! NIS,! and! in! nanoemulsions! (NEs)! against! Bacillus! cereus! using! untargeted-metabolomics.! Results! revealed! morphological! changes!in!the!structure!of!B.!cereus!treated!with!NEs!of!CIN!and!CIT,!both!NIS-associated.!In!addition,!sensibility! tests!and!UHPLC-QTOF-MS!analyses!indicated!that!NIS!might!react!together!with!CIT!reducing!the!bactericidal! ef"ciency,! while! the! nanoemulsion! of! CIT! effect! was! enhanced! by! NIS! in! nanoemulsioned! forms.! This! study! highlights!the!importance!of!prudent!administration!of!natural!compounds!as!antimicrobial!agents!to!prevent! sublethal!tolerance!in!pathogenic!bacteria.!!!