Investigation of Anti-Browning Activity and Antimicrobial Action of Tridax Procumbens Leaf.

Abstract:

Browning of Yams due to Oxidative and Microbial action poses a major problem to food quality, shelf-life and economic value. The present study investigated the inhibitory effect of ethanolic and n-hexane extracts of Tridax procumbens on Oxidative browning in Yams.The plant material was extracted by soxhlet extraction and the concentrate was used to determine anti-browning activity compared with other standards such as Citric, Ascorbic, Hot water, Cold water using spectrophotometeric measurement. Antioxidant activity was determined using DPPH, FRAP and TPC, the Antimicrobial activity was carried out using disk diffusion method and the Phytochemical Screening was determine by GC-MS methods. The results of Anti-browning activities of the samples (A and B) showed high absorbance of 1.64±1.47c and 1.69±1.54c. The Antimicrobial activity of samples (A and B) revealed a high Zone of Inhibition (ZOI) of 19±2, 15±1 and 17±2 for E. Coli, S.aureus and B. subtilis microorganisms respectively. These results revealed that Tridax procumbens extracts have anti-browning and antimicrobial activities which could be traceable to the presence of Naphthalene, 2,6-dimethyl and 1-Tridecene which have antimicrobial and antioxidant activities. These findings highlights its potential application in food processing and preservation.