Potential application of bioactive compounds in essential oils from selected Malaysian herbs and spices as antifungal agents in food systems

Abstract

Essential oils have a long history in their variety of applications. Although essential oils of various herbs and spices from other parts of the world have shown antimicrobial effects, those from Malaysian herbs remain underreported. Thus, can be further utilized in the search for novel bioactive compounds as natural antimicrobials to fulfil the consumers' demand for safer, healthier, and higher‐quality foods with longer shelf life. In the present work, the essential oils from ten herbs and spices namely betel, cinnamon, clove, coriander, galangal, ginger, lemongrass, lime, nutmeg, and turmeric, selected based on their abundance and economic importance, were analysed by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. A total of 120 bioactive compounds were detected. The major (>10%) bioactive compounds were anethole, 26.25% (betel), cinnamaldehyde, 63.39% (cinnamon), eugenol, 87.16% (clove), linalool, 54.79% (coriander), propenoic acid, 29.56% (galangal), α-zingiberene, 26.32% (ginger), geranial, 42.61% (lemongrass), limonene, 39.84% (lime), β-phellandrene, 27.80% (nutmeg), and ar-turmerone, 41.81% (turmeric). All essential oils also yielded minor (<10%) bioactive compounds of different classes. Some of these major and minor bioactive compounds have been reported to exert fungicidal/fungistatic effects and could be an excellent candidate in the development of efficient fungal spoilage control strategies such as an active food packaging system.