In vitro antimicrobial activity of ozonated sunflower oil in milk against Escherichia coli: comparative study in cow, goat and sheep

ABSTRACT Mastitis is one of the most impacting diseases in dairy farming. Conventional treatment of mastitis using antibiotics is costly and has led to the emergence of antimicrobial resistance against most of the commonly used antibacterial agents. Research has begun to focus on molecules with antimicrobial potentials structurally different from conventional antibiotics We compared the antibacterial activity in vitro of ozonized sunflower oil (OSO) with different peroxide concentrations (150, 300, and 600 PI) against E. coli in goat, cow and sheep milk. It was found that the antibacterial effect, after 72 h, was more important for the goat's milk with OSO 150 (p < 0.001) and OSO 300 (p < 0.001). However, the effect was greater for cow's milk, when OSO 600 was used (p < 0.001). In the case of sheep's milk, it was observed that the antimicrobial effect was only significant with the use of OSO 600, however, this decrease in the concentration of E. coli (p < 0.001) remained practically unchanged from 24 h to 72 h of incubation. In conclusion, ozonated sunflower oil offers many therapeutic possibilities that would reduce the use of antibiotics for the prevention or treatments of mastitis, and its antimicrobial effect is greater with cow's milk and less with sheep's milk.