Application of Three Types of Cinnamon Essential Oils as Natural Antifungal Preservatives in Wheat Bread
, Hana Ďúranová 2, Lucia Galovičová 1, Nenad L. Vukovic 3, Milena Vukic 3, Przemysław Łukasz Kowalczewski 4 and Miroslava Kačániová 1,5,*Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
It is well written.
why did you choose 3 strains of penicillium, are they more common in spoilage of bread than others? if so, need more background info about these strains.
The authors used white bread for the experiment, but the title indicates wheat bread. This is a little confusing, need to clarify. Is white and wheat bread have the same composition? Definitely not.
Please provide sufficient background information to justify your experiment.
Author Response
Reviewer #1
We would like to thank the reviewer for the valuable comments.
It is well written.
Response: Thank you very much for the favorable comment.
Point 1: why did you choose 3 strains of penicillium, are they more common in spoilage of bread than others? if so, need more background info about these strains.
Response: In general, strains of Penicillium (P.) spp. are a frequent source of bakery products contamination. For our purposes, P. citrinum, P. expansum, and P. crustosum were selected based on our previous scientific works dealing with the antifungal activity of different essential oils against these three Penicillium strains inoculated on different food models including bread (Valková et al., 2021; Valková et al., 2022; Galovičová et al., 2021).
References:
- Valková, V., Ďúranová, H., Galovičová, L., Vukovic, N. L., Vukic, M., & Kačániová, M. (2021). In Vitro antimicrobial activity of lavender, mint, and rosemary essential oils and the effect of their vapours on growth of Penicillium spp. in a bread model system. Molecules, 26(13), 3859.
- Valková, V., Ďúranová, H., Vukovic, N. L., Vukic, M., Kluz, M., & Kačániová, M. (2022). Assessment of Chemical Composition and Anti-Penicillium Activity of Vapours of Essential Oils from Abies Alba and Two Melaleuca Species in Food Model Systems. Molecules, 27(10), 3101.
- Galovičová, L., Borotová, P., Valková, V., Vukovic, N. L., Vukic, M., Terentjeva, M., ... & Kačániová, M. (2021). Thymus serpyllum Essential Oil and Its Biological Activity as a Modern Food Preserver. Plants, 10(7), 1416.
Point 2: The authors used white bread for the experiment, but the title indicates wheat bread. This is a little confusing, need to clarify. Is white and wheat bread have the same composition? Definitely not.
Response: Revised directly in the manuscript.
Point 3: Please provide sufficient background information to justify your experiment.
Response: Revised directly in the manuscript.
Reviewer 2 Report
The ms. “Application of Three Types of Cinnamon Essential Oils as Natural Antifungal Preservatives in Wheat Bread” (Ms. Ref. No. applsci-1971893-v1) presents original results on the assessment of the anti-penicillium activities of three selected cinnamon EOs (CCEO, CVBEO, CVLEO) against Penicillium strains using the vapor contact method. The extracts were tested on white bread, used as a model.
The topic falls within the aims and scopes of the Applied Sciences journal and of the targeted special issue.
Originality: Fair (confirmatory results).
Applicability: The obtained results are applicable in the food industry (however bot in the bread making, in my opinion).
Major issues:
1. I suggest revising the Introduction section, to point out the elements of novelty/originality, as compared with the current literature landscape.
2. A drawback of the study is the model chosen to test the applicability of the results in a real case scenario. The model is white bread, while the cinnamon EO seems not proper, as it may give the product an unwanted aroma. Thus, the authors should point out if or how the sensory properties of the products are affected. A sensory analysis would clarify this aspect. However, if sensory analysis cannot be performed for policy constraints, you need support from relevant literature. Apparently, indeed, the cinnamon EO was used in food applications such as meat based products (https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11182885; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10123006) or dairy products (https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10112847; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods9030307). Please revise.
3. Also in the Introduction, the choice of the cinnamon genotypes should be explained. In my opinion, it is a good choice, especially the cassia variety, as their EO are efficient against pathogens, without creating strain resistance (see https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lwt.2022.113681 for details).
Minor issues:
- I suggest avoiding splitting words in the Title (Nat-ural).
- Please revise the English.
Given the completed score sheet and the comments above, after careful evaluation of ms. “Application of Three Types of Cinnamon Essential Oils as Natural Antifungal Preservatives in Wheat Bread” (Ms. Ref. No. applsci-1971893-v1), I recommend Major Revision according to comments to improve the presentation of the results.
Author Response
Reviewer #2
We would like to thank the reviewer for the valuable comments.
The ms. “Application of Three Types of Cinnamon Essential Oils as Natural Antifungal Preservatives in Wheat Bread” (Ms. Ref. No. applsci-1971893-v1) presents original results on the assessment of the anti-penicillium activities of three selected cinnamon EOs (CCEO, CVBEO, CVLEO) against Penicillium strains using the vapor contact method. The extracts were tested on white bread, used as a model.
The topic falls within the aims and scopes of the Applied Sciences journal and of the targeted special issue.
Originality: Fair (confirmatory results).
Applicability: The obtained results are applicable in the food industry (however bot in the bread making, in my opinion).
Response: Thank you very much for your opinions.
Major issues:
Point 1: I suggest revising the Introduction section, to point out the elements of novelty/originality, as compared with the current literature landscape.
Response: Revised directly in the manuscript.
Point 2: A drawback of the study is the model chosen to test the applicability of the results in a real case scenario. The model is white bread, while the cinnamon EO seems not proper, as it may give the product an unwanted aroma. Thus, the authors should point out if or how the sensory properties of the products are affected. A sensory analysis would clarify this aspect. However, if sensory analysis cannot be performed for policy constraints, you need support from relevant literature. Apparently, indeed, the cinnamon EO was used in food applications such as meat based products (https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11182885; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10123006) or dairy products (https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10112847; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods9030307). Please revise.
Response: Revised directly in the manuscript.
Point 3: Also in the Introduction, the choice of the cinnamon genotypes should be explained. In my opinion, it is a good choice, especially the cassia variety, as their EO are efficient against pathogens, without creating strain resistance (see https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lwt.2022.113681 for details).
Response: Revised directly in the manuscript.
Minor issues:
Point 4: I suggest avoiding splitting words in the Title (Nat-ural).
Response: Revised directly in the manuscript.
Point 5: Please revise the English.
Response: Revised directly in the manuscript.
Given the completed score sheet and the comments above, after careful evaluation of ms. “Application of Three Types of Cinnamon Essential Oils as Natural Antifungal Preservatives in Wheat Bread” (Ms. Ref. No. applsci-1971893-v1), I recommend Major Revision according to comments to improve the presentation of the results.
Response: Thank you for your recommendations.
Reviewer 3 Report
1. In the article (reference 30) a method for determining Aw is not described.
2. Why was the maximum concentration of EOs taken as 500 μL/L?
Author Response
Reviewer #3
We would like to thank the reviewer for the valuable comments.
Point 1: In the article (reference 30) a method for determining Aw is not described.
Response: Revised directly in the manuscript.
Point 2: Why was the maximum concentration of EOs taken as 500 μL/L?
Response: This concentration was chosen based on our previous scientific works (Valková et al., 2021; Valková et al., 2022; Galovičová et al., 2021) in which it was found to be effective. Based on our experience, in most cases this concentration inhibits the growth of fungi and also it does not affect the sensory properties of the products to an extant way - which we want to support in the future by implementing the sensory evaluation of the products.
References:
- Valková, V., Ďúranová, H., Galovičová, L., Vukovic, N. L., Vukic, M., & Kačániová, M. (2021). In Vitro antimicrobial activity of lavender, mint, and rosemary essential oils and the effect of their vapours on growth of Penicillium spp. in a bread model system. Molecules, 26(13), 3859.
- Valková, V., Ďúranová, H., Vukovic, N. L., Vukic, M., Kluz, M., & Kačániová, M. (2022). Assessment of Chemical Composition and Anti-Penicillium Activity of Vapours of Essential Oils from Abies Alba and Two Melaleuca Species in Food Model Systems. Molecules, 27(10), 3101.
- Galovičová, L., Borotová, P., Valková, V., Vukovic, N. L., Vukic, M., Terentjeva, M., ... & Kačániová, M. (2021). Thymus serpyllum Essential Oil and Its Biological Activity as a Modern Food Preserver. Plants, 10(7), 1416.
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
The authors have properly addressed the reviewers' comments. As a result, the ms. was improved compared to its initial submission. It now meets the standards for publication in Foods.
