Combined Effect of Storage Temperature and pH on the Stability of.doc

Effect of Storage Temperature and pH on Stability of Antibacterial Effectiveness of Garlic Extract against Escherichia coli B34 KIM, MYUNG HEE, YOUNG DONG KANG, and KYU HANG KYUNG * Department of Food Science, Sejong University, Seoul 143-747, Korea Running title; Antibacterial Effectiveness of Garlic Extract against Escherichia coli B34 Corresponding author: Kyu Hang Kyung Department of Food Science, Sejong University Kwangjin-ku, Seoul 143-747, Korea Tel. 822-3408-3225, Fax no., 822-3408-3569 Email kyungkh@sejong.ac.kr Abstract The effect of long-term storage on garlic antibacterial activity was tested. A concentration of 5% or more garlic was found necessary to completely inhibit Escherichia coli growth in tryptic soy broth. This value is substantially higher than the minimum inhibitory concentration of 1% for E. coli reported previously. pH-modified garlic extract was stored at different temperatures to investigate the impact of storage conditions (i.e., temperature, pH, period of storage) on the stability of the antibacterial activity of the garlic extract used against E. coli B34. The antibacterial effectiveness of the garlic extract against E. coli remained stable when both the storage temperature and the pH of the extract were kept low. When the garlic extract was stored at 40 (C and above, most or all of the garlic antibacterial activity disappeared after a 24-hour storage period, regardless of the storage pH. The antibacterial activity was weakened when the garlic extract pH was adjusted to 8, even at low temperatures. Key words: garlic, Escherichia coli, pH, temperature, antibacterial activity, combined effect of temperature and pH Antimicrobial activity of garalic extract has been recognized for many years in all parts of the world. As such, the antibacterial [8], antifungal [15, 21], antiviral [16], and enzyme inhibitory [9, 10, 22] activities of garlic have been widely investigated. One to two per cen