Contents:

Abstract
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Introduction
Uses of spices
Sources of Spices and Herbs
Classification of spices
Extraction of essential oils and components of spices
Micro-organisms susceptible to spices:
a) Bacteria
b) Yeasts
c) Molds
7. Mechanism of antimicrobial activity
8. Factors affecting spices antimicrobial activity
9. Microbial Quality of Spices
10.
Application of Spices in Medicines
11.
Medically important spices:
a) Carvacrol
and
thymol
b) Eugenol
c) Carvone
d) Cinnamaldehyde
12. Conclusion
13. References

Abstract
Spices have been used since ancient times as flavoring agents in foods
in order to enhance the taste, texture, flavor, and aroma of food. Its
antimicrobial activities are latter discovered. Spices (clove, bay, thyme,
basil, pepper, ginger, rosemary, and mustered) have marvelous
antimicrobial activity against a variety of micro-organisms such as
0

bacteria, yeasts and molds. Spices owe their antimicrobial activities due
to the production of volatile oils that exhibit anti-fungal and antibacterial activities in the vaporized state. Spices antimicrobial activities
are dependent upon the type of spice, type of food, and type of target
micro-organisms and chemical composition of oils extracted from
spices. They are also used in conjunction with antimicrobial drugs in an
effort to control food-borne pathogens like E.coli O157 H7,
Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhimurium, Pseudomonas
species, and Aspergillus ssp.

1. Introduction:
Now a days, food manufacturers are paying special
emphasis upon the spices and herbs to use them as natural
antimicrobials. They are now preferred over chemical preservatives
because chemical preservatives are costly, toxic to health, and
1

relatively unstable. Spices are extensively used in culinary practices are

constituents of daily diets of thousands of people throughout the world.
They are not only used as flavoring agents but also used as
antimicrobials in food preservation e.g. pickling is one of the most
ancient technique to preserve vegetables food by using spices. Extracts
of spices show antimicrobial activity due to the possession of eugenol
(phenolic compound), Cinnamaldehyde, ketones and other phenolic
compounds. These compounds show specific action against a variety of
food-borne pathogens. So, it must be necessary that microbial load of
spices should be controlled during production, harvesting, and
transportation in order to make them potent food additives.

2. Uses of Spices:
They are used in food industries for the following
objectives as:
Spices are used as alternative for chemical additives in order to
preserve food because of their antimicrobial properties.
They are used in culinary practices as flavoring agent and to give
aroma to foods.
Spices are used in smoked products because their smoke contains
formaldehyde that inhibits microbial growth.
Their production, processing and handling is easy as compared to
chemical additives.
Unlike chemical additives, spices have negligible effects on
human health.
They are relatively less costly as they are obtained from plant
sources.
Spices are now extensively used to treat whopping cough and
stomach ache due to gas.
Antioxidants present in chilies are used to reduce blood
cholesterol level and also help to burn the calories.
Clove oil is specifically used in tooth-pastes in order to treat gums
and tooth decay as well as fever, digestive problems, fever and
cough.
Zeera is rich in Iron and helps to maintain the immune system. Its
extract with water is used to treat bacillary dysentery.
Curry leaves are used in herbal medicines with an aim to reduce
sugar level in the patients of diabetes (Akarpat et al., 2008;
Cox et al., 2010).
Garlic and ginger have antimicrobial activities and are used to
treat cough and cold.
Mustered oil is extensively used for body massage. It contains
omega-3-fatty acids that are essential fatty acids and provide

with ab important source of zinc, calcium, manganese and

protein.
Pepper has found extensive uses in treatment of heart disorders
as well as digestive problems (Burt, 2004).

3. Sources of Spices:

Spices and herbs are generally obtained from

plants. They are usually derived from different parts of plants, such as
cardamom from seed, bay leaf from leafs, clove from flower bud,
pepper from fruit, cinnamon from bark or ginger from rhizome.

4. Classification of Spices:
They are classified according to the following
criteria as:
Color such as Pepper.
Pungent smell such as garlic
Aromatic ringed structure of their antimicrobial chemical
constituents e.g. clove and cinnamon.
Herbaceous properties, for example, rosemary and sage.
Spices are also classified according to their taste, as sweet,
spicy, sour, bitter and astringent.
3

They are often named after the name of plant sources from which
they are originally obtained.

5. Extraction of essential oils and components of

spices:
Essential oils are aromatic and volatile oily liquids that show
antimicrobial activity as they possess terpenoids and phenolic
compounds (thymol and eugenol). Spices are usually contaminated with
fungal spores during the production, and harvesting. So, they must be
decontaminated before use as food additive by irradiation and
fumigation. The best treatment, however, is to obtain extract from
spices. Extracts of spices are obtained by using the physiochemical
procedures such as steam distillation which results in the microbial free
extracts of spices. Spices are washed with sterile distilled water, and
then air dried. Air-dried spices are then crushed, ground and then mixed
with suitable solvent like ethanol. The components are then shaken well
for up to 4 days. The collected samples are then placed in vacuum
evaporator in order to vaporize the ethanol. The resulting extract is
then used as antimicrobial agents. Spices must be stored in cool, dark
and dry places. They must be stored in sterile containers. In order to
use the spices in food, spoon must be used in order to prevent
contamination. Spices must be used according to the standard in order
to develop a standard taste and flavor of food. In hot products, small
concentration of spices must be used because in hot products, a large
amount of flavoring agents are released from spices.

6. Micro-organisms susceptible to spices:

Micro-organisms that are
susceptible to antimicrobial activity of spices are:
a) Bacteria
b) Yeasts
c) Molds
Mixtures of spices are very effective against a variety of food-borne
pathogenic bacteria. Thyme, garlic, ginger, mustered, black pepper,
lemon and oregano are very effective against Staphylococcus aureus,
Bacillus subtilis, E. coli species, Pseudomonas species, and Salmonella
spp.
Yeasts like Candida acutus, C. albicans, C. apicola, C.catenulata. C.
inconspicua, C. tropicalis, Rhodotorula rubra, Sacharomyces cerevisae
and Trignopsis variabilis are susceptible to antimicrobial activity of
garlic and clove (Arora and Kaur., 1999).

Spices are effective against several molds because they inhibit the
growth of their hyphae and stop the synthesis of mycotoxins. Oregano
is effective against Aspergillus niger and clove is used to inhibit the
aflatoxin production by Aspergillus flavus. Actually, spices cause molds
cytoplasmic membrane rupture and inactivation of intracellular and
extracellular enzymes. Moreover, plant lytic enzymes hydrolyze the
chitin polymer in the cell wall of fungi.

7. Mechanism of anti-microbial activity:

They (spices) inhibit the
growth of microbes by the following ways as:
Some spices have broad spectrum antimicrobial activity against
microbes while some are specific against either gram positive or
gram negative bacteria whereas some spices are specific against
a variety of molds. Spices usually influence the biochemical or
metabolic reactions inside the microbial cell such as respiration
and production of toxins and acids. Extracts from spices contain
phenolic compounds that at low concentration inhibit the activity
of enzymes that are involved in ATP-synthesis but at high
concentration, they denature the proteins that are the
components of plasma membrane. Ultimately, plasma membrane
denatures and loses its function of maintaining the traffic of
nutrients in and out of the cell.

Phenolic compounds also denature the enzymes that are involved

in the germination of spores.
5

Garlic and onion contain allicin and sulfur containing compounds

that inhibits the metabolism by oxidation of thiols to disulfides in
SH group containing enzymes. They also cause inhibition of
cysteine and glutathiones by binding with them.
Spices inhibit the pseudo-mycelia formation in yeasts as well as
they denature the enzymes that are involved in the synthesis of
specific structural components.

8. Factors
activity:

affecting

the

spices

antimicrobial
There are

several factors
that affect the anti-microbial action of spices. These include the
following as:
a) Hydrogen ion concentration (pH)
b) Presence of other antimicrobials
c) Temperature
d) Conditions under which the spices are produced.
Spices contain phenolic compounds that are non-ionized at high
concentration of H+ ions so they are more readily absorbed into
hydrophobic proteins and lipids of plasma membrane. Spices with low
concentration of other antimicrobials is very effective against a number
of micro-organisms. At very high temperature, a large amounts of
phenolic compounds are released from spices so they show optimum
antimicrobial activity at high temperature. But high concentration of
phenolic compounds can also off flavor the food. Hence, temperature,
according to the type of spices must be controlled. In order to prevent
the contamination of spices, proper sanitation conditions should be
maintained during production, harvesting and processing of spices.

9. Microbial Quality of Spices:

Pathogenic and spoiling micro-organisms
have been found on spices that gain entry into the spices either by
water, contaminated soil, feces and unsanitary conditions during
production, processing and transportation of spices. Generally, they are
produced in warm and humid areas so these environmental conditions
favor the growth of micro-organisms. The International Committee of
Microbiological Specifications for Food allow the maximum limit of about
106, 104, and 103 CFU of aerobic mesophilic bacteria, fungi and E.coli
respectively per gram of spice. So, spices microbial load must be
maintained before they are used in food conservation. Water is
essential for metabolic activities of spices of micro-organisms so, by
6

controlling the moisture content of spices, microbial load can be

reduced to considerable amount. Moreover, proper sanitary conditions
should be maintained during production, processing and harvesting of
crops. In addition to all these, proper transport conditions are necessary
to avoid contamination of spices. Training of farmers is also essential in
order to aware them about health hazards induced by contaminated
spices. Besides all these, proper storage conditions are also necessary
to maintain microbial load of spices. They must be stored in dry sterile
environment. Generally, spices are imported and exported from India
where climate conditions are humid so these climate conditions support
the growth of micro-organisms including bacteria, yeasts and fungi. So,
they must regulate their environment according to their needs. Thus, it
is necessary to maintain proper sanitation conditions during production,
harvesting, transportation and storage of spices. Microbial load of
spices can also be regulated considerably by storing them in such
places where humidity and light are carefully controlled.
Decontaminated water and fertilizers must be used during the
production of spices in order to avoid contamination from soil and
water.
Sr.
Micro-organisms
Minimum concentration allowed
no
(CFU/ml)
1
Mesophilic
and
aerobic
106
bacteria
2
Fungi
104
3

E.coli

10.

103

Application of Spices in medicines:

Extracts of several plants

are used in pharmaceutical with an aim to prevent the growth of
pathogenic micro-organisms. Extracts of several spices are active
against methicillin resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus. Inhibitory
substances are ethanol, chloroform, dichloromethane, and ethyl
acetate. Extracts from Garlic and Ginger are active against
Streptococcus oralis and Streptococcus mitis strains that are the part of
normal microflora of dogs (Silva., 2010). Several spices that are very
effective against S. aureus due the production of phenolic compounds
are represented in the following diagram as:

Extracts of Garlic and Ginger exhibit antimicrobial activity against gram

negative bacteria. Some spices extracts are used in conjunction with
antimicrobial effects. For
example, Garlic extract and ampicillin are used in combination to
prevent the growth of Klebsiella pneumoniae.

11. Medically important Spices:

The medically important spices and

their mode of action are as follows:

a) Carvacrol and Thymol:
Carvacrol and thymol are oils that are obtained from
pepper wart and thyme respectively. They phenolic rings in their
structures that differ by only at one hydroxyl group. The phenolic rings
affect the cell wall of gram negative bacteria causing the release of
Lipopolysaccharide from the cell wall increases the permeability of
cytoplasmic membrane to ATP.

b) Eugenol:
Eugenol is phenyl propene that is obtained from clove oil. Its
chemical structure consists of phenolic ring that shows antimicrobial
activity by disrupting the lipid bilayer. It has now recently reported that
eugenol is very effective against Bacillus cereus by inhibiting the
production of amylase and protease. Both of these enzymes are involved
in the degradation of starch and proteins in nutrients. Deficiency of
carbohydrates and proteins inhibit the growth of micro-organisms.
Moreover, eugenol becomes hydrophobic at high concentration of H +
ions. Hydrophobic eugenol is then absorbed into the phospholipid bilayer
and disturbs its structure and permeability. Recently, it has been
reported that eugenol is also very effective against cell of gram negative
bacteria (Manila et al., 2014).
The chemical structure of eugenol and clove oil is given as:

c) Carvone:
Carvone consists of terpenoids that are obtained from caraway
seeds. It causes the bacterial cell to release H + ions and thereby
disturbing the hydrogen ion gradient inside the cell. The permeability of
bacterial cell is affected and ultimately cell Carvone causes lysis of
bacterial cell. It is very effective against E. coli, Streptococcus
thermophilus and Lactococcus lactis by disturbing their metabolic
enzymes. The Carvones chemical structure and its source are
represented as:

d) Cinnamaldehyde:
Cinnamaldehyde is obtained from bark of Cinnamon trees.
Cinnamon gives its trees specific flavor and odor. It is effective against
E.coli and Salmonella typhimurium. Unlike Carvone and thymol, it neither
weakens the cell membrane nor does it affect the ATP-synthase instead
its carbonyl group has strong affinity for proteins and prevent the
decarboxylation of amino acids. The chemical structure, bark of
cinnamon and its essential oil are represented by the following diagram
as:

Conclusion:
Contamination of food is a major problem in the food
industry. Spices extracts and essential oils have great potential against
micro-organisms like bacteria, molds and yeasts. When they are used in
combination, they exert an excellent antimicrobial activity. However,
spices may also contain a variety of micro-organisms, thus it is
necessary to produce, harvest and store in proper sanitary conditions.
They are used as flavoring agents so, their concentration in foods must
10

be carefully maintained under the conditions of proper temperature, pH

and humidity. They are also used in pharmaceuticals in the production of
drugs and cosmetics as they inhibit the growth of micro-organisms by
the production of antimicrobial compounds such as eugenol, thymol,
caravel, and Cinnamaldehyde that affects the microbial metabolism
disturbing their enzymatic systems, phospholipid bilayer of plasma
membrane and affecting the ATP-synthase.

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