Phytochemical Screening of Ethnomedicinal Herbal Extracts and Their Effect on Microbial Quality of Sukuti
Date
2022
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Department of Food Technology
Abstract
The main objective of the study was to screen phytochemical constituents of ethnomedicinal
herbs and to determine their effect on the microbial quality of sukuti. Specific objectives
include preparation of herbal extracts, isolation, and identification of microorganisms from
sukuti, determination of antimicrobial property of herbal extracts, and microbial analysis of
herbal sukuti. Four ethnomedicinal herbs (Zanthoxylum armatum, Litsea cubeba, Heracleum
nepalense, and Evodia fraxinifolia) having culinary importance were selected for the study.
For the preparation of herbal extract, herbs were ground (particle size < 250 µ), treated with
50% ethanol (v/v), and concentrated in a rotary vacuum evaporator at 50
v
o
C. Four of the
spoilage and pathogenic microorganism viz. Salmonella, Staphylococcus, E. coli, and Lactic
acid bacteria were isolated and identified from the sukuti samples for the study. Herbal
extracts at the concentration of 40, 20, 10, and 2 mg/ml were tested against the isolates to
determine the antimicrobial property of the extracts. The best herb with optimum
concentration was selected based on its antimicrobial activity.
Zanthoxylum armatum at 40 mg/ml concentration showed the highest zone of inhibition
against the test organisms and therefore selected for final product development. Meat strips (1
cm 1 cm 25 cm) were marinated with Zanthoxylum armatum (40 mg/ml) extract at the rate
of 2%, aged (24 h at 4 ± 2C), and dried at cabinet drier for 2 days at 55C. Total Plate Counts
of control (untreated) and herbal sukuti (treated) were carried out for 20 days within an
interval of 10 days to determine the microbial stability of the final product. The total plate
count for treated sample was significantly lower (p<0.05) than that of untreated sample.
Description
Keywords
Sukuti making, Phytochemical screening