Antimicrobial Activity of Preservatives in Food Technology

Abstract

The aim of this study is to determine the antibacterial activity of some preservatives in the food industry by minimum inhibitor concentration (MIC) and the paper disc diffusion method for antibiotic susceptibility testing. Some preservatives were chosen namely sodium bisulfite, potassium sorbate, and sodium benzoate. The determination of the antibacterial activity of these preservatives against gram-negative Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922), Salmonella enteritidis (ATCC 13076), gram-positive: Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923), Bacillus subtilis (ATCC 11774) were investigated. The results show that MIC of sodium bisulfite for E. coli, S. enteritidis were 1.56 mg/mL, 3.125 mg/mL for B. subtilis and 6.25 mg/mL for S. aureus; while MIC of potassium sorbate for E. coli, S. aureus were 400 mg/mL, 800 mg/mL for B. subtilis and no effect on S. enteritidis. MIC of sodium benzoate for E. coli, S. aureus and B. subtilis were 400 mg/mL and no effect on S. enteritidis.