Abstract

Essential oils are natural substances which can be used as natural conservators for foods. The present work aimed to evaluate biological properties of essential oil of Hyptis suaveolens and its effect on shelf-life of beef. The extraction was carried out by hydro-distillation. Antioxidant activity was determined by method of DPPH and FRAP. Antimicrobial activity was determined by the microdilution and agar diffusion methods. The sensitivity of eleven pathogen microbial strains was tested. The conservation test of ground meat using essential oil was carried out by monitoring the evolution of the microbial groups. Result showed that extraction yield of essential oil was 0.21% (m/v). The DPPH assay gave IC₅₀ of 16.367 ± 0.0739 µL and was confirmed by the FRAP assay. The essential oil from H. suaveolens showed inhibitory activity on microbial strains. Biopreservation assay revealed a significant decrease of microbial charge during conservation time. Thus essential oil was successful in vitro and its activity on prolonging shelf-life of beef was found to be 7 days. The results of the present study demonstrated the possibility of essential oil from H. suaveolens to be used as natural conservator for food industry.

Key words: Hyptis suaveolens, essential oil, biopreservation, biological properties, meat.