Abstract

Meat and fish, the most perishable foods need to be preserved preferably with natural preservatives. In our study, we have proven that spices like garlic and cinnamon that are used as regular ingredients in cooking can act as preservative due to their rich antibacterial and antioxidant profile. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) determined by macrobroth dilution method against five spoilage and disease causing bacteria (Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis and Bacillus cereus) was found to be between 0.03 to 0.2884 mg/ml and 0.061 to 0.24 mg/ml for garlic and cinnamon, respectively. Activity index (0.90) was maximum for garlic extract (GE) against E. coli. The antibacterial activity of both extract was maximum at 60°C for all bacteria. In the case of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryhydrazyl (DPPH) assay, the IC₅₀ value for cinnamon extract (CE) (0.527 mg/mL) was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) lower than GE (2.60 mg/mL). The antibacterial activity of gum arabic coating with garlic and cinnamon (GAGC) was dose dependent. At 0.125 g/g of meat, there was three fold decrease in log colony forming units (cfu) of viable cells/ml than the control (without coating), whereas for turmeric coating, there was exponential increase of viable cells. The shelf life of coated meat and fish was increased by three weeks at 5°C.

Key words: Gum acacia coating, garlic, cinnamon, antioxidant, antimicrobial, meat, fish.