In this study, the antibacterial activities of selected barleys (UB, unhulled barley; PB, pearl barley; and NB, naked barley) and wheat (WG, wheat with germ and endosperm) extracts were evaluated against the food-borne pathogens Staphylococcus aureus KCTC 1927, Escherichia coli KCTC 2593, Salmonella Typhimurium KCTC 2054, and Bacillus cereus KCTC 1014. The amount of the antibacterial biomarker, 2,6-dimethoxy-1,4-benzoquinone (DMBQ), present in selected barleys and wheat, was measured by HPLC. Furthermore, antioxidant activity of samples was determined using the oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) assay. WG (22.35±0.04 mm) was found to be highly inhibitory to Staphylococcus aureus followed by UB (17.91±0.10 mm), PB (16.87±0.05 mm), and NB (15.69±0.20 mm). The antibacterial activity of the selected grains was correlated with antioxidant activities and the amount of DMBQ (Pearson's correlation coefficient, 0.7831). The antioxidant activity of the selected grains was also correlated with the total phenolic content (Pearson's correlation coefficient, 0.9934). WG extract showed significantly higher antibacterial activity, compared with barley extracts such as UB, PB, and NB. The results of this study suggest that barley has a potential in the development of natural antimicrobials and food preservatives for controlling food-borne pathogens.
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