A Brief Explanation of Natural Preservatives Derived from Plants

The research on natural preservatives for plant-based foods is exceptionally active both domestically and internationally, and the reason for this is that there are many physiologically active substances with antibacterial effects in natural plants in nature. In recent years, many scholars in China have conducted research on plant-based natural food preservatives. They studied antibacterial tests on over 50 species of plants in the Cypriniaceae family, including garlic, ginger, and cloves, as well as over 200 species of Chinese herbal medicines such as rhubarb, licorice, and ginkgo leaves, and extracts from other plants such as bamboo leaves. They found that more than 150 of them had broad-spectrum antibacterial activity, and there was also a synergistic effect of antibacterial activity among the extracts. They were used as natural preservatives in certain foods.
Recently, many researchers have reported that extracts from plants such as ginkgo leaf extract, cinnamon extract, clove extract, rosemary extract, red yeast extract, sweet pepper extract, and chili extract have strong bactericidal effects and can be used as natural preservatives.

Tea Polyphenols
A large number of experiments have shown that tea polyphenols have excellent anti-corrosion and preservation effects. Tea polyphenols have inhibitory effects on Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, tomato ulcers, Streptococcus carinii, as well as Aspergillus, Penicillium, Fusarium, Colletotrichum, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Moreover, tea polyphenols have good physiological effects on the human body after ingestion; It can eliminate excess free radicals in the human body, improve the permeability of blood vessels, enhance blood vessel walls, lower blood pressure, prevent elevated blood sugar, promote the absorption and assimilation of vitamin C, regulate microorganisms in the human body, inhibit bacterial growth, and have anti-cancer, anti caries, anti body lipid oxidation, and anti radiation effects.

Essence Oil
Essence oil refers to the extracts of roots, bark, seeds or fruits of aromatic plants generally grown in the tropics. As early as in prehistoric times, essence oil has been used as condiment and food additive, and has been used in medicine and preservation of corpses. In recent decades, there have been many reports on the role of essential oil in inhibiting microorganisms and as a food preservative. In addition to the essence oils of laurel, cinnamon, garlic, pepper, onion and other plants that can be used as natural preservatives, it is also reported that anethole in the volatile oil of anise can inhibit vibrio cholerae, Escherichia coli, staphylococcus and other bacteria; The spice extract extracted with alcohol has a strong inhibitory effect on various bacteria, and can be used in combination with alcohol as a preservative.
Lilac oil contains eugenol, tannins, and other substances. Research has found that clove oil has a broad-spectrum antibacterial effect on foods such as Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, yeast, and Aspergillus niger, and is thermally stable up to 100 ℃. Its prominent feature is its strong inhibitory effect on fungi.

Allicin
Garlic contains allicin, which has strong inhibitory and killing effects on pathogenic intestinal bacteria such as Shigella and common food spoilage fungi. This makes it a natural preservative. The antibacterial performance of garlic cloves is very weak, while garlic sprouts and garlic stems and leaves have a considerable antibacterial effect. Its antibacterial performance decreases significantly at high temperatures, so it is best to use garlic extract for preservation and preservation at lower temperatures (85 ℃). The optimal pH for garlic is around 4, making it suitable for use in the preservation and preservation of acidic foods.
Garlic contains allicin, allicin, and allicin, among which allicin and allicin are the main antibacterial components in garlic. The antibacterial efficacy of the latter is 50% of that of the former. The antibacterial mechanism of allicin may be due to the binding of oxygen atoms in its molecule with cysteine in bacteria, which prevents it from being converted into tyrosine, thereby affecting the important redox reactions in bacteria. Garlic has significant inhibitory and bactericidal effects on various cocci and fungi. Some people in Japan have used food poisoning bacteria and spoilage bacteria as experimental strains, and added garlic and extract during food processing and preservation. It was found that garlic has a strong antibacterial effect on various food poisoning bacteria and spoilage bacteria. People in our country have discovered that garlic has inhibitory and killing effects on dozens of fungi that contaminate food, such as Penicillium orange, Aspergillus flavus, Rhizopus nigricans, and Fusarium oxysporum. Its antibacterial effect is equivalent to that of chemical preservatives benzoic acid and sorbic acid, making it the most effective plant with antifungal effects among all discovered plants.