The FICI assay was used in combination with the time-kill
studies given the availability of information about the kinetic of
microbial inactivation, resulting in a dynamic picture of the antimicrobial
interactions (Mackay, Milne, & Gould, 2000). The timekill
curves of bacteria exposed to OVEO and ROEO alone or in
combination at the selected subinhibitory concentrations in vegetable
broth revealed a significant decrease (>99% to 99.999%) in
the viable counts over time, with a distinct behavior of S. Enteritidis
challenged with ROEO at MIC. However, for most of the interactions,
the highest reductions (>3 log cycles; 99.99%) were
found in OVEO and ROEO at MIC and at the combinations 1/2 MIC
OVEO þ 1/2 MIC ROEO and 1/2 MIC OVEO þ 1/4 MIC ROEO.