Open AccessMicrobiological analysis of common preservatives used in food items and demonstration of their in vitro anti-bacterial activity
Author(s) -
Tohora Sultana,
Jwel Rana,
Sowmitra Ranjan Chakraborty,
Kinsuk Das,
Tasmina Rahman,
Rashed Noor
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
asian pacific journal of tropical disease
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.208
H-Index - 33
ISSN - 2222-1808
DOI - 10.1016/s2222-1808(14)60605-8
Subject(s) - preservative , food science , bacteria , agar , microbiology and biotechnology , escherichia coli , antimicrobial , sodium sulfite , biology , listeria monocytogenes , listeria , pseudomonas , bacillus (shape) , sulfite , klebsiella , citric acid , chemistry , sodium , biochemistry , genetics , organic chemistry , gene
Objective: To quantify the microorganisms contaminating the common preservatives used in food\udas well as to detect their in vitro anti-bacterial traits.\udMethods: A total of 9 preservatives were subjected to conventional cultural and biochemical\udmethods for microbial enumeration. Anti-bacterial activities were demonstrated through the agar\udwell diffusion method.\udResults: All samples were found to be contaminated with bacteria up to 105 CFU/g and with\udthe fungal flora within a range of 1 01-1 02 CFU/g. Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas spp. and\udStaphylococcus spp. were demonstrated in most of the samples. Sodium sulfite and citric acid\udpossessed the strongest anti-bacterial trait against all of the test bacteria. Acetic acid exhibited\udactivity against 6 out of 8 test bacteria while vinegar exhibited the activity against 4 bacteria.\udActivity of salt was demonstrated only against Listeria spp. and Bacillus spp., while activity of\udsugar and honey was found only against Escherichia coli and Klebsiella spp., respectively.\udConclusions: According to the current investigation, sodium sulfite and citric acid samples were\udfound to be satisfactory preservatives both in terms of microbiological criteria and their antibacterial traits