1 INTRODUCTION
Chicken meat and its products have increased in popu-larity and have become widespread throughout the world, with chicken sausage being one of the most popular cate-gories among these products1. Sausage manufacture in-volves a number of handling steps, which increase the chances of contamination by pathogens or spoilage2. Fresh sausage does not undergo heat treatment and has a highwater activity; giving this food a short shelf life and sub-jecting it directly to the action of the microorganisms pres-ents3. Application of agents with adequate antimicrobial and antioxidant activities has significant potential to extend the shelf life of chicken products and prevent economic losses4. Due to the negative perception of chemical preser-vatives, consumers attention is c hanging to natural alte natives and particular interest has been focused on the po-tential use of essential oilsEOfrom aromatic plants5. It is well known that most species, especially those be-longing to the Lamiaceae family, have different biological and pharmacological activities, which has meant that for a long time they have been used for improving the taste and organoleptic properties o f different foods6. Ocimum basi-licumbasiland its EO are used as flavoring in tomato-based products and those that are prone to deterioration by acid-tolerant microbiota7, 8 and studies have revealed the potential use of the of Origanum vulgareoreganoEO against several microorganismos9, 10. Foodborne diseases are a growing public health problem worldwide. Salmonella Enteritidis is considered the most important serovar of Salmonella, causing gastrointestinal disease of varying severity in humans11. This pathogen is commonly found in chicken, which is the primary vector for transmission of Salmonella to humans12, 13. Listeria monocytogenes, on the other hand, is common in dairy products and red meat, but it can also be found in chicken, adding to the health concerns of Salmonella and Campy-lobacter14. Listeria is an opportunistic pathogen that mainly affects pregnant women, newborns, the elderly and immunocompromised individuals. This pathogen emerged in the late 20th century and has caused many outbreaks with high mortality rates15, 16. Thus the aim was to investigate the antimicrobial activi-ties of O. basilicum and O. vulgare EO against Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella Enteritidis in artificially inoculated fresh chicken sausage samples after different periods of contact between pathogen and EO.