Determination of Malaysian Herbs and Spices as Biopreservative Agents in Food Products

Preservatives are usually added to food products to ensure longer shelf life and prevent decomposition process and microbial growth. However, synthetic food preservatives can also give negative side effect to health and are harmful to human and animal physiology. Based on the potential of herbs and spices as antimicrobial agent, the purpose of this study is to identify antibacterial activity from extracts of some local herbs and spices: Phaeomeria speciosa (P. speciosa), Aquilaria subintegra (A. subintegra), Polygonum minus (P. minus), Syzygium aromaticum (S. aromaticum), Cinnamomum verum (C. verum) and Piper nigrum (P. nigrum) against food bacteria using disc diffusion method. Results revealed that dichloromethane extracts of C. verum, hexane extracts of S. aromaticum and P. minus showed the most active antibacterial against tested bacteria. The Minimal Inhibitory Concentrations (MIC) ranged from 25 to 75 mg/ml for dichloromethane extract of C. verum, hexane extract of S. aromaticum and P. minus. Therefore further research should be pursued to identify the chemical structure of antibacterial agents from the active extracts as an alternative source of natural preservatives.