The antioxidant and antimicrobial potential of pomegranate peel and seed extract was investigated. Pomegranate peel extract (PE) showed excellent antioxidant activity while the seed extract (PS) did not have any significant activity. The IC 50 value of PE for 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging was 4.9 lg mL -1 while that of Butylated hydroxy toluene was 21.2 lg mL -1 , indicating that it was a stronger antioxidant. The efficacy of PE in scavenging hydroxyl and superoxide anion radical was also very high. It also had good reducing power and iron chelation capacity. PE showed good antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus having minimum inhibitory concentration of 0.01%. Pseudomonas could be inhibited at a higher concentration of 0.1% while it was ineffective against Escherichia coli and S. typhimurium. Addition of PE to popular chicken meat products enhanced its shelf life by 2-3 weeks during chilled storage. PE was also effective in controlling oxidative rancidity in these chicken products.

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The effective utilization of potato peel, a waste generated in large quantities by the food industry, as an antioxidant was investigated. Potato peel extract (PPE) exhibited high phenolic content (70.82 mg of catechin equivalent/100 g), chlorogenic acid (27.56 mg/100 g of sample) being the major component. The yield of total phenolics and chlorogenic acid increased by 26 and 60%, respectively, when the extract was prepared from gamma irradiated (150 Gy) potatoes. PPE showed excellent antioxidant activity as determined by beta-carotene bleaching and radical scavenging activity of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH). The suitability of PPE for controlling lipid oxidation of radiation processed lamb meat was also investigated. PPE (0.04%) when added to meat before radiation processing was found to retard lipid peroxidation of irradiated meat as measured by TBA number and carbonyl content. The antioxidant activity of PPE was found to be comparable to butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT).