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According to WHO, diarrhea worldwide kills 1.5 million children every year, which is
more than the number of deaths due to AIDS (WHO, 2009). In developing countries, every
year children under three years of age experience on an average three episodes of diarrhea
and each episode deprives them the nutrition necessary for growth. Major reason of
diarrheal deaths is enterotoxin produced by different pathogenic bacteria such as Salmonella, Escherichia, etc. (Oscar et
al., 2009). Indiscriminate use of existing
antimicrobial compounds has led to the emergence of resistance in microorganisms and due to
which, food hygiene in food industries and hospitals are critically significant as large number
of persons can be exposed to infection and related complications. As a result of
several undesirable effects of chemical and physical preservatives, there is an interest in
natural substances that can inhibit food spoilage microorganisms while preserving the
nutritive quality and taste.
Spices are well-known for their flavoring, medicinal and antioxidant properties
(Unver et al., 2009). Many spices have traditional commercial uses, such as ingredients
of medicines, perfumes, incense and soaps. Active compounds of several spices have
been included in class of naturally occurring food preservatives and have their inclusion in
foods allowed by food production regulatory agencies (Brull and Coote, 1999). The present
study evaluates antimicrobial activity of ethanol, acetone, petroleum ether and aqueous
extracts of six spices that are commonly used in Indian cuisine. |
