Efficacy of onion (Allium cepa l.) and garlic (Allium sativum l.) juice against common pathogens associated with meat

Abstract

Meat contains high nutrients that make it get spoilt readily and currently used preservatives like soluble nitrites are carcinogenic. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of Onion (Allium cepa L.) and Garlic (Allium sativum L.) juice as alternative preservatives. Efficacy of the single preservatives an d their combinations was determined by the disk diffusion method against the following four meat pathogens; Bacillus subtilis (ATCC 6633), Salmonella typhi (ATCC 2202), Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 20591) and Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922) at 0.2 g of meat. Accelerated shelf life of meat was established by determining the number of microorganisms at an interval of 1 - 2 h. The results indicated that garlic was significantly, more effective (P ≤ 0.05) in inhibition of meat pathogens than all the other test treatments. Garlic juice reduced Gram positive pathogen, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis to 0 by the 12th h. These results are an important reference that confirms the use of Garlic to control common pathogens associated with meat.Keywords: Garlic (Allium sativum L); Onion (Allium cepa L); Inhibition zones, Efficacy; Meat.