Antimicrobial Activity of Some Spices Used in the Meat Industry

Abstract

The antimicrobial activity of some food additives used in meat products such as cumin, cinnamon, cloves, crushed red pepper, fennel, and anise against some microorganisms was investigated. For this purpose, the diethyl ether-treated extracts of spice samples were tested in vitro with Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, Klebsiella pneumoniae FML 5, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 15753, Mycobacterium smegmatis CCM 2067, Micrococcus luteus A 2971, and Candida albicans ATCC 60192 as test strains. The disc diffusion method was applied in the trial. Cinnamon was found to be the most effective spice against tested microorganisms. The weakest antimicrobial activity was displayed by fennel. Crushed red pepper and anise were found to be ineffective against the test strains.