Abstract
Consumers' demands for low-processed and healthier food products led to a search for alternatives to replace or reduce synthetic food additives with natural ones. Aromatic plant derivatives which have GRAS status, have been examined for being natural food preservatives and antioxidants to prolong the shelf-life of foods. They contribute to food safety, owing to their anti-quorum sensing, and anti-biofilm properties. These potential food safety attributes and increasing demand for natural food additive options have led to an interest in the use of them, especially in traditional meat, dairy, and bakery products, which would provide them an added value, and increase the market competitiveness. Therefore, the overall perspective of the value-added effects of using aromatic plants and their derivatives in food production and of their incorporated use into packaging materials for active packaging are discussed in this review. In addition, it provides information on their antimicrobial and antioxidant actions. The review also aims to give detailed information on benefits of vegetal bioactive compounds in health and disease by giving their nutraceutical and health-promoting properties. The current knowledge on their application in the treatment of health disorders is presented, their ability to prevent diseases is discussed, and the areas for future research are proposed.
Highlights
Aromatic plants, known as “herbs and spices”, have been widely used for bactericidal, fungicidal, virucidal, antiparasitical, insecticidal, medicinal, cosmetic, agronomic, and sanitary applications since ancient times (Jamshidi-Kia et al, 2018; Tariq et al, 2019) and especially nowadays found more and more widespread use in food production as alternatives to potentially harmful synthetic food additives (Bakkali et al, 2008; Christaki et al, 2012)
L. nobilis and M. communis from Morocco, low concentrations (0.2 mL/mL) of these essential oils (EOs) combined with mild heat treatment or high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) (175400 MPa for 20 min) treatments showed synergistic lethal effects against E. coli O157:H7 and L. monocytogenes cells in the tubes containing 5 mL of sterile citrate–phosphate buffer at pH 7.0 or 4.0, allowing up to 5 log inactivation of bacteria counted by image analyzer automatic counter (Cherrat et al, 2014)
The use of aromatic plant derivatives in food production can fill this gap with many benefits from an integrated food application point in sustainable human health
Summary
Known as “herbs and spices”, have been widely used for bactericidal, fungicidal, virucidal, antiparasitical, insecticidal, medicinal, cosmetic, agronomic, and sanitary applications since ancient times (Jamshidi-Kia et al, 2018; Tariq et al, 2019) and especially nowadays found more and more widespread use in food production as alternatives to potentially harmful synthetic food additives (Bakkali et al, 2008; Christaki et al, 2012). Essential oils (EOs) of aromatic plants are applied as a part of a hurdle technology in which several food preservation factors are combined to provide microbial stability of the food products (Calo et al, 2015) For this reason, extracts and EOs of aromatic plants, with many originating from the Mediterranean area, found a great place as new-generation natural compounds in food production and human health with proven benefits (Demir et al, 2009; Christaki et al, 2012). The current knowledge on their application in the treatment of health disorders is presented, their ability to prevent diseases is discussed, and the areas for future research are proposed
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