Rosemary and clove extracts demonstrate antimicrobial and antioxidant effects

Researchers from the Henan University of Science and Technology studied the antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of rosemary (RO) and cloves (CL) using raw chicken meat. The results of their study were published in the journal Food Science and Human Wellness.

• To determine the antioxidant and antimicrobial effects of RO, CL, and their combination, researchers tested them on raw chicken meat. They used butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) as positive control.
• They stored the samples at 4 degrees C and observed them for 15 days.
• They compared the results for each with that of a negative control – raw chicken meat without any additive.
• The researchers reported that RO has less phenolic compounds and flavonoid content than CL.
• CL showed a higher DPPH radical scavenging activity than RO.
• On the other hand, RO exhibited a higher ferrous-ion chelating effect than CL.
• The researchers determined the extracts’ physico-chemical properties (pH and instrumental color) and microbial activities (total viable count, lactic acid bacteria count, Enterobacteriaceae count, and Pseudomonas spp. count) and measured the amount of 2-thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) every three days for 15 days.
• They reported that the bacterial count of raw meat treated with a combination of the extracts was lower than that of the controls.
• Moreover, it maintained significantly (P < 0.05) higher L*, a* and b* (instrumental color) values during storage.
• It also had the lowest TBARS value among the samples.

Based on these results, the researchers concluded that RO and CL can prevent microbial growth and lipid oxidation, making them excellent antimicrobials and antioxidants.

Learn more about the uses and health benefits of rosemary and cloves at FoodCures.News.

Read the full study at this link.

Journal reference:

Zhang H, Wu J, Guo X. EFFECTS OF ANTIMICROBIAL AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITIES OF SPICE EXTRACTS ON RAW CHICKEN MEAT QUALITY. Food Science and Human Wellness. March 2016;5(01):39-48. DOI: 10.1016/j.fshw.2015.11.003