Food Control 14 (2003) 141–143 www.elsevier.com/locate/foodcont
Antibacterial activity of Turkish spice hydrosols Osman Sa gdıcß a
€ zcan , Musa O
a,*
b
Department of Food Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, S€uleyman Demirel University, 32260 Isparta, Turkey b Department of Food Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Selcßuk University, 42031 Konya, Turkey Received 17 March 2002; received in revised form 17 June 2002; accepted 25 June 2002
Abstract The in vitro antibacterial activity of the hydrosols of (distilled spice water) sixteen spices (anise, basil, cumin, dalamagia sage, dill, fennel, laurel, mint, oregano, pickling herb, rosemary, sage, summer savory, seafennel, sumac and black thyme) were tested on fifteen bacteria (Bacillus amyloliquefaciens ATCC 23842, B. brevis FMC 3, B. cereus FMC 19, B. subtilis var. niger ATCC 10, Enterobacter aerogenes CCM 2531, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, E. coli O157:H7 ATCC 33150, Klebsiella pneumoniae FMC 5, Proteus vulgaris FMC 1, Salmonella enteritidis, S. gallinarum, S. typhimurium, Staphlococcus aureus ATCC 2392, S. aureus ATCC 28213, Yersinia enterocolitica ATCC 1501). The hydrosols of five spices (anise, cumin, oregano, summer savory and black thyme) had antibacterial activity against some of the test bacteria. Oregano and summer savory were effective against all bacteria during incubation. Anise, cumin and black thyme hydrosols were active against some bacteria, but not all. Consequently, it is likely that some edible plant hydrosols may be used as antimicrobial agents to prevent the deterioration of food products. The other hydrosols did not show activity against any of the all bacteria tested. Ó 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Spice hydrosols; Antibacterial activity
1. Introduction Antimicrobial activities of various spices and derivatives have been reported by many workers (Deans & Svoboda, 1989; Dorman & Deans, 2000; Farag, Daw, Hewedi, & El-Baroty, 1989; Hammer, Carson, & Riley, 1999; Hsieh, Mau, & Huang, 2001; Kıvancß & Akg€ ul, € zcan & Boyraz, 2000; O € zcan & Erkmen, 2001). 1986; O The leafy part of plants such as sage, thyme, oregano and savory belonging to the Labiatae family have been added to meat, fish and food products for years. In addition to improving flavour, certain spices and essential oils prolong the storage life of foods by an antimicrobial activity. Being natural foodstuffs, they appeal to consumers who tend to question the safety of synthetic additives. It has been suggested that some synthetic chemicals convert some ingested materials into toxic substances or carcinogens by increasing the activity of microsomal enzymes (Farag et al., 1989). Also, some chemicals require caution in handling since they
are corrosive and their vapours can irritate the eyes and respiratory tract. On the contrary, herbs and their derivatives such as extracts and decoctions possessing antimicrobial activity might have beneficial effects, but cause no health problems to the handler and consumer (Deans & Svoboda, 1989; Farag et al., 1989; Kıvancß & € zcan & Erkmen, 2001). Akg€ ul, 1986; O Recently, there has been considerable emphasis on studies involving essential oils, extracts and decoctions of spices on inhibiting the growth of microbes. But, there is a limited number of research on the inhibitory effect of spice hydrosols (distilled spice water). The objective of this study was to investigate the activity of hydrosols of anise, basil, cumin, dalamagia sage, dill, fennel, laurel, mint, oregano, pickling herb, rosemary, sage, summer savory, seafennel, sumac and black thyme on 15 bacteria (see Material and methods).
2. Material and methods 2.1. Plant spice samples
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +90-246-2111542; fax: +90-2462370437. E-mail address: osagdic@ziraat.sdu.edu.tr (O. Sa gdıcß).
The plant spices used were collected from plants grown in Turkey and dried at room temperature. Plants
0956-7135/02/$ - see front matter Ó 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 9 5 6 - 7 1 3 5 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 0 5 7 - 9