Abstract: Effective prevention and control of Vibrio parahaemolyticus contamination in foods are of great significance for safeguarding public health. In this study, the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of seven plant-derived compounds (syringic acid, ferulic acid, chlorogenic acid, sulfur acid, protocatechuic acid, protocatechuic aldehyde and citral) against V. parahaemolyticus were measured by agar dilution method. Subsequently, citral was selected to investigate its effect on the growth curve, cell membrane potential, intracellular ATP concentration, cell membrane integrity and cell morphology of V. parahaemolyticus. The possible antimicrobial mechanism was deciphered. The results showed that citral had more potent antimicrobial effect against V. parahaemolyticus than the other six plant-derived compounds, and its MICs against V. parahaemolyticus ranged from 0.10 to 0.60 mg/mL. It could cause cell membrane depolarization, a decrease in intracellular ATP concentration and cell membrane integrity, and cell shrinkage and deformation. These findings suggest that citral can effectively inhibit the growth of V. parahaemolyticus and will have potnetial aplication in the food industry.

Key words: Vibrio parahaemolyticus, citral, minimum inhibitory concentration, cell membrane