Scientific journal

47 2008

Journal of Food and Nutrition Research
Summary No. 3 / 2008

KRAJČOVÁ, E. – GREIFOVÁ, M. – SCHMIDT, Š.
Study of antimicrobial activity of selected plant extracts against bacterial food contaminants
Journal of Food and Nutrition Research, 47, 2008, No. 3, s. 125-130

Štefan Schmidt, Institute of Biotechnology and Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology, Slovak University of Technology, Radlinského 9, SK – 812 37 Bratislava, Slovakia. E-mail: stefan.schmidt@stuba.sk

Summary: The microbial characteristics have a high influence on the quality and durability of food products. Rosemary, sage, ginkgo, cinnamon and evening primrose, which are rich in antioxidants, belong to widely used food ingredients. Antioxidants present in the mentioned plants possess both antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. These substances were tested for their activity against common microbial contaminants of food and cosmetics products (Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes). Their antimicrobial activity was tested by the dilution method and using the description of growth curves of the tested microorganisms. The antimicrobial effect of plant extracts were correlated to their concentration of 0.1% in the following sequence: rosemary, sage, ginkgo, evening primrose and cinnamon. These results confirm the hypothesis that the extracts act in food not only as antioxidants but also as antimicrobial agents.

Keywords: antimicrobial activity; rosemary; sage; ginkgo; evening primrose; cinnamon

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