Abstract
Supercritical fluid extraction as an environmentally friendly technology was applied to isolate biologically active extracts from celery and parsley fruits for potential applications in the food industry. The extractions were performed under mild temperature conditions of 39.85 °C and at pressures of 10 and 30 MPa. The extracts were analyzed regarding their chemical composition, antibacterial activity, and cytotoxic effect. Sedanolide was the dominant component of the celery fruit extracts, comprising more than 70% of the obtained fraction, while the content of apiole in the parsley fruit SC CO2 extracts exceeded 85%. The celery fruit extracts showed strong and moderately strong antibacterial activity against tested Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus (B.) cereus, B. subtilis, B. circulans, Listeria (L.) greyi, L. seeligeri and L. welshimeri, with minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values between 160 and 640 µg/mL, and weak activity against the selected Salmonella isolates with a MIC of 2560 µg/mL. The parsley extract obtained at 10 MPa showed strong and moderately strong antibacterial effects against Bacillus strains with obtained MICs of 160–640 µg/mL, and weak activity against Staphylococcus, Listeria, and Salmonella with a MIC of 2560 µg/mL. Cytotoxicity investigation showed that the extracts with proven antibacterial activity had no cytotoxic effect on rabbit kidney cells at concentrations of up to 640 µg/mL.
Highlights
Humanity is in desperate need of novel antibacterial molecules
The results revealed that raising the pressure range did not influence the yield much from celery
The exhaustion of the plant material in the applied experimental setup was determined using the mass ratio of CO2 consumed and plant material placed in the extractor, i.e., 24 for celery and around 20 for parsley for the both SFE conditions
Summary
Humanity is in desperate need of novel antibacterial molecules. Due to the significant consequences of antibiotic resistance over the past years, studies of the antimicrobial activity of natural bioactive molecules have become deeply important. With no new broad-spectrum antibiotic classes having appeared on the market for over 30 years, bioactive molecules from natural sources remain the sole means of producing new compounds. Food quality and safety standards are stricter than in the past. Many states have implemented serious revisions of existing laws on food production and on the reproduction of plants and animals. Substances allowed in food production for decades are banned and/or being phased out [1,2]. Natural bioactive compounds are getting more space in Molecules 2020, 25, 3163; doi:10.3390/molecules25143163 www.mdpi.com/journal/molecules
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