Comparison of antibacterial activity against food-borne bacteria of Alpinia galanga, Curcuma longa, and Zingiber cassumunar

• Main Authors: Prakatthagomol W., Sirithunyalug J., Okonogi S.
• Format: Article
• Published: Chiang Mai University 2015
• Subjects: Multidisciplinary
• Online Access: http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=84872371797&origin=inward; http://cmuir.cmu.ac.th/handle/6653943832/38535
• Institution: Chiang Mai University

The aim of this study was to compare the antibacterial action of Alpinia galanga Linn., Curcuma longa Linn. and Zingiber cassumunar Roxb. against food-borne bacteria and to search for the most effective fraction from these plants. The crude extracts and the essential oils of the plant rhizomes were used as test fractions. Several strains of food-borne bacteria were used as test microorganisms. The crude ethanolic extract of A. galanga inhibited Corynebacterium sp., Staphylococcus aureus and four strains of Escherichia coli. C. longa and Z. cassumunar inhibited only Corynebacterium sp. The essential oils of the two plants exhibited dramatically stronger antibacterial activity than their crude extracts. The antibacterial activity of only 40 μg of A. galanga essential oil was as effective as 15,000 μg of its crude extract in inhibiting E. coli. The essential oil of Z. cassumunar inhibited E.coli and Pasteurella multocida, whereas its crude extract did not. The essential oils of A. galanga and Z. cassumunar offered the highest potential for further investigating their minimum inhibitory and bactericidal concentrations. The antibacterial action of the oils appears to be a bactericidal effect. Of the plants studied, A. galanga was the most effective at inhibiting food-borne bacteria. The antibacterial activity of the essential oil of A. galanga was two times higher than that of Z. cassumunar.