Figure 2.

In vitro antibacterial activity of the volatile components of thyme and cloves essential oils, individually used and in binary combination (1:1 ratio), evaluated by the disk volatilization method, against Escherichia coli (A) and Staphylococcus aureus (B) food isolates. Graphical representation of the results; the mean diameter of inhibition zone (in mm) is reported as the mean of values obtained from assays in triplicate ± standard deviation. Statistical significance was examined by the one-way ANOVA test, with Dunnett’s correction (p < 0.05), for bars comparison with positive control bar, and with Tukey’s correction (p < 0.05), for multiple comparisons between bars. Asterisks indicate the statistical significance with respect to the positive control (**** p < 0.0001; ** p < 0.01; * p < 0.05); the absence of asterisks indicates absence of significance. Letters (a, b, c, d, e) are used for multiple comparisons. Different letters indicate significant differences between bars; bars with no significant differences receive the same letter. MDIZ, mean diameter of the inhibition zone; thy-EO, thyme essential oil; cl-EO, cloves essential oil; NaClO, sodium hypochlorite 5%.