Potential of medicinal plants as antimicrobial and antioxidant agents in food industry: a hypothesis.
Many food preservation strategies can be used for the control of microbial spoilage and oxidation; however, these quality problems are not yet controlled adequately. Although synthetic antimicrobial and antioxidant agents are approved in many countries, the use of natural safe and effective preservatives is a demand of food consumers and producers. This paper proposes medicinal plants, traditionally used to treat health disorders and prevent diseases, as a source of bioactive compounds having food additive properties. Medicinal plants are rich in terpenes and phenolic compounds that present antimicrobial and antioxidant properties; in addition, the literature revealed that these bioactive compounds extracted from other plants have been effective in food systems. In this context, the present hypothesis paper states that bioactive molecules extracted from medicinal plants can be used as antimicrobial and antioxidant additives in the food industry.
Centro de Investigacion en Alimentacion y Desarrollo, A.C. (CIAD, AC), Carretera a la Victoria Km 0.6, La Victoria. Hermosillo, Sonora 83000, Mexico.
Luis Alberto
LA
Ortega-Ramirez
Isela
I
Rodriguez-Garcia
Juan Manuel
JM
Leyva
Manuel Reynaldo
MR
Cruz-Valenzuela
Brenda Adriana
BA
Silva-Espinoza
Gustavo A
GA
Gonzalez-Aguilar
Wasim
W
Siddiqui
Jesus Fernando
JF
Ayala-Zavala
D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D020834:Ethnopharmacology; D005520:Food Preservatives / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000737:chemistry*
D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D000975:Antioxidants; D005520:Food Preservatives
food safety; natural products; phenolic compounds; terpenes