Antibacterial Activity and Mechanism of Pinus pumila (Pall.) Pinecone Essential Oil Against Escherichia coli

Purpose In this paper, we use Pinus pumila (Pall.) Pinecone to extract essential oil and improve its utilization. Methods The study used hydrodistillation to extract essential oil from Pinus pumila (Pall.) pinecone. Inhibition analysis of E. coli using extracted essential oils was evaluated to reveal the inhibitory activity by assessing growth curves, conductivity, nucleic acids, proteins, enzyme activities, and protein synthesis. Results The primary constituents, as shown by GC-MS chemical composition study, were α-pinitol, β-pinene and limonene. The results of the bacteriostatic activity indicated that the inhibitory zone (DIZ) had a diameter of 14.93 ± 0.14 mm, the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) was 16.0 µL/mL, and the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was 8.0 µL/mL. Sweeping electron microscopy and laser confocal also demonstrated the disruption of cell wall and cellular enzymes, analyzed by CATase and ATPase activities, which showed a decrease in enzyme activity, and SDS-PAGE analysis showed its ability to inhibit protein synthesis, which leads to cellular damage. Conclusion The present study emphasizes the sustainable use of Pinus pumila (Pall.) Pinecone for economic opening of food preservation in addition to inhibition of spoilage bacteria.