Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), a major food-borne pathogen, causes disease in mammalian hosts by
producing a wide variety of exoproteins, such as α-hemolysin and staphylococcal enterotoxins. Tea tree
oil (TTO), an essential oil, has broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity. The objectives of this study were
to evaluate the inhibitory effects of TTO on S. aureus growth and on α-hemolysin, enterotoxins A and
B production. In this study, the effect of TTO on S. aureus growth in laboratory medium and pasteurized
milk was determined by time-kill assays. Treatment with half of minimal inhibitory concentration
(MIC) of TTO demonstrated very little or no reduction in numbers of viable ATCC 29213 cells; however,
1 × MIC of TTO reduced the viable cell count more noticeably, and 2 × MIC of TTO demonstrated
an even greater reduction in the viable cell count, both in TSB and milk