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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Environmental Microbial & Food Safety Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #332992
Title: Swarm motility inhibitory and antioxidant activities of pomegranate peel processed under three drying conditions

Author
item JOHN, MARIA - Us Forest Service (FS)
item Luthria, Devanand - Dave
item Bhagwat, Arvind

Submitted to: Food Chemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/24/2017
Publication Date: 4/25/2017
Citation: John, K.M.A., Bhagwat, A.A., Luthria, D.L., 2017. Swarm motility inhibitory and antioxidant activities of pomegranate peel processed under three drying conditions. Food Chemistry. 235:145-153.

Interpretive Summary: Controlling spread of human pathogens on fresh produce is a top priority for public health reasons. Microorganisms migrate on wet surfaces by a movement called swarming motility. We investigated compounds from pomegranate rind extracts having inhibitory properties towards microbial mobility. More than 25 metabolites were identified in the fruit rind whose levels were influenced by rind processing temperature prior to chemical extraction. Understanding chemical composition of rind extracts with anti-swarming activities will advance our knowledge in developing value-added bioactive compounds. The research will benefit the fresh produce industry, as well as increasing the microbial food safety of the Americans food supply.

Technical Abstract: Contaminated fruits and vegetables cause global health problems and reduced economic productivity resulting in significant loss to food industry. Pomegranate (Punica granatum) peels provides a rich source of bioactive phytochemicals namely, punicalins (PC: a and ß) punicalagins (PG: a and ß) and ellagic acid. The metabolic distribution of bioactives in pomegranate peel, inner membrane, and edible aril portion was investigated under three different drying (freeze drying, ambient temperature, and oven drying) conditions along with the anti-swarming activity against Citrobacter rodentium. Based on the multivariate analysis, 29 metabolites discriminated the pomegranate peel, inner membrane, and edible aril portion as well as the three different drying methods. Punicalagins were detected in higher quantities in all fractions as compared to ellagic acid and punicalins. The concentration of PCs (a and ß), PGs (a and ß), EA, total phenolics content, radical scavenging and the anti-swarming activities in peels dried under different conditions (freeze-dried, ambient temperature dried, and oven) were significantly higher than the edible aril portion. Significant metabolite changes in profiles measured in terms of total phenolic content, radical scavenging and anti-swarming activity, were observed in samples dried under different conditions.