In vitro antimicrobial activities of Bidens pilosa and Moringa oleifera leaf extracts and their effects on ground beef quality during cold storage

Abstract

© 2016 The Author(s). Published by Taylor & Francis This study determined the activities of Bidens pilosa and Moringa oleifera leaf extracts on microbial count of ground beef during 6-day cold storage. Fresh ground beef sample was treated with butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) (0.2 g/kg), M. oleifera (ML, 1 g/kg) and B. pilosa (BP, 1 g/kg) leaf extracts and compared with the control. The result of the phytochemical contents revealed that ML extract had higher phenolic and flavonoid contents than BP extract (p > 0.05). The antibacterial assay of the extracts revealed an appreciable broad-spectrum activity against tested bacteria with minimum inhibitory concentrations between 0.6 and 10.0 mg/mL. Addition of ML leaf extract to ground beef sample lowered total viable and lactic acid bacteria (p < 0.05) counts than control and BHT treatments at day 3 of storage. These results suggest that ML leaf extract could be used as potential sources of natural antimicrobial agent in meat products.