Phenolic-Rich Plant Extracts With Antimicrobial Activity: An Alternative to Food Preservatives and Biocides?

Abstract

In recent years, the search for natural plant-based antimicrobial compounds as alternatives to some synthetic food preservatives or biocides has been stimulated by sanitary, environmental, regulatory, and marketing concerns. In this context, besides their established antioxidant activity, the antimicrobial activity of many plant phenolics deserved increased attention. Indeed, industries processing agricultural plants generate considerable quantities of phenolic-rich products and by-products, which could be valuable natural sources of natural antimicrobial molecules. Plant extracts containing volatile (e.g., essential oils) and non-volatile antimicrobial molecules can be distinguished. Plant essential oils are outside the scope of this review. This review will thus provide an overview of current knowledge regarding the promises and the limits of phenolic-rich plant extracts for food preservation and biofilm control on food-contacting surfaces. After a presentation of the major groups of antimicrobial plant phenolics, of their antimicrobial activity spectrum, and of the diversity of their mechanisms of action, their most promising sources will be reviewed. Since antimicrobial activity reduction often observed when comparing in vitro and in situ activities of plant phenolics has often been reported as a limit for their application, the effects of the composition and the microstructure of the matrices in which unwanted microorganisms are present (e.g., food and/or microbial biofilms) on their activity will be discussed. Then, the different strategies of delivery of antimicrobial phenolics to promote their activity in such matrices, such as their encapsulation or their association with edible coatings or food packaging materials are presented. The possibilities offered by encapsulation or association with polymers of packaging materials or coatings to increase the stability and ease of use of plant phenolics before their application, as well as to get systems for their controlled release are presented and discussed. Finally, the necessity to consider phenolic-rich antimicrobial plant extracts in combination with other factors consistently with hurdle technology principles will be discussed. For instance, several authors recently suggested that natural phenolic-rich extracts could not only extend the shelf-life of foods by controlling bacterial contamination, but could also coexist with probiotic lactic acid bacteria in food systems to provide enhanced health benefits to human.

Effects of Rubus fruticosus and Juniperus oxycedrus derivatives on culturability and viability of Listeria monocytogenes

“…The antimicrobial potential of molecules including also those found in the extracts studied in this work, such as gallic acid, vanillic acid, protocatecuic acid, rutin, apigenin, and caffeic acid, has been recently reviewed by Oulahal et al 48 . For example, a MIC value of 2 mg/ml of gallic acid against L. monocytogenes is reported 45 .…”

Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Activity of Apricot (Mimusopsis comersonii) Phenolic-Rich Extract and Its Application as an Edible Coating for Fresh-Cut Vegetable Preservation

“…The polyphenols quercetin and kaempferol are one of the most common compounds found in fruits and vegetables and also have antimicrobial and quorum quenching action [42,43]. For instance, Quecán et al [25] observed that quercetin aglycone and quercetin 3-β-D-glucoside inhibited the motility of P. aeruginosa PAO1 and Serratia marcescens MG1, besides reducing the violacein production by Chromo-bacterium violaceum, a quorum sensing model organism.…”

Antofine Triggers the Resistance Against Penicillium italicum in Ponkan Fruit by Driving AsA-GSH Cycle and ROS-Scavenging System

“…However, the long-term use of synthetic fungicides is increasingly causing serious issues limiting their continued use, such as long degradation period, the occurrence of resistant pathogens, environmental pollution, ecological destruction, and increasing public concern about fungicide residues in citrus fruits ( Elsherbiny et al, 2021 ; La Spada et al, 2021 ; Zhang et al, 2021 ). In the past decades, resistance induction in postharvest horticultural fruits using plant extracts or their antifungal compounds serving as “generally regarded as safe” (GRAS) additives have shown great potential because they have prominent broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity and will not lead to the emergence of resistant fungal strains and are regarded as a new style alternative to the conventional synthetic fungicides in controlling postharvest fungal decay of citrus fruits ( Loi et al, 2020 ; Oulahal and Degraeve, 2022 ; Wang et al, 2022 ).…”

“…Increasing evidence has well demonstrated that the inducted resistance by PAAs has become a promising potential strategy in response to the challenge of fungal infections ( Chen et al, 2019b ; Duan et al, 2021 ; Li et al, 2021a ; Oulahal and Degraeve, 2022 ). Recently, some PAAs, such as poplar bud extract and its main component, namely, pinocembrin ( Yang et al, 2016 ), citral ( Tao et al, 2014 ), limonin ( Li et al, 2021b ), salicylic acid, and plant essential oil ( Moosa et al, 2021 ), are effective in the suppression of P. italicum growth and in inducing resistance to citrus postharvest blue mold.…”