New Substances with Preservative Activity from Food Materials and Medicinal Herbs

Abstract

The medicinal herbs and food sources used in the present study were collected from all around the nation. According to the Food composition table published by RDA(Rural Development Administration) and MOHW(Ministry of Health and Welfare), 170 kinds of food materials such as cereals, potatoes and starches, pulses, seeds, vegetables, spice, seasonings, oils and fats, fishes and shellfishes, seaweeds, mushrooms, and fruits etc. and 190 kinds of medicinal herbs were purchased from domestic market of medicinal herbs. The deterioration and the decay of food material and food by putrefactive and food borne pathogenic microorganisms cause profound damage to public health and enormous economic loss. So it is very important to develop preservatives to prevent food contamination. However, current sterilization such as physical treatment and preservation by artificial additives brings changes of food properties and problems of food safety and residual toxicity, etc. This study focused on the search of antimicrobial agent originated from natural products for food preservation. The purpose of this study was to develop new food additives for the prevention from preservative active substances of food materials and medicinal herbs. For these purpose, total 360 extracts from food sources and medicinal herbs extracted were tested for preservative activity using paper disk method and macrobroth dilution method. The chemical structures of these compunds were identified with the data obtained from spectrophotometry such as 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, and the potentiality as effective preservatives were examined by comparing with common synthetic preservatives. Among total 360 natural extracts from food sources and medicinal herbs, S. miltiorrhizae, S. flavescens, C. cassia, and E. japonicum were selected as the candidates for the natural preservative. The four antimicribial substances showed a stronger antimicrobial activity than synthetic preservatives such as benzoic acid, propionic acid, sorbic acid and dehydroacetic acid. For the purpose of increasing the antimicrobial activity, the synergistic effect of synthetic and natural preservatives was examined. The synergistic effect of combining benzoic acid, sorbic acid and natural preservatives against foodborne pathogens was especially high. Application of purified preservatives to the target foods resulted in the prolonged shelf life with a significant decrease in number of viable cells. These natural preservatives in this study could be useful for natural and artificial food preservation.