Application of Phenolic Compounds for Food Preservation: Food Additive and Active Packaging

Abstract

Phenolic compounds are well known for their health benefits related to antioxidant activity. In addition, this kind of compounds can be extracted from natural sources, such as olives, grapes, fruits, vegetables, rice, spices, herbs, tea and algae, among others. In this way, these compounds have increased their popularity and, little by little, the consumers are more interested in these compounds due to the fact that they come from natural sources and because they have health biological activity. In fact, other important characteristics associated to phenolic compounds are the antimicrobial activity, because phenolics have the capacity of retarding the microbial invasion in some products and avoiding the putrefaction of others, mainly fruits and vegetables. These properties allow phenolic compounds to be suitable for numerous food preservation applications. Therefore, different kinds of products can be fortificated with phenolic compounds to extend the shelf life of some foods, to turn them in functional food or to incorporate them in food packaging. Active packing is an innovative strategy where phenolic compounds can play an important role for improving the global assessment and extend the shelf life of commercial products.

Evaluation of the Phenolic Profile of Castanea sativa Mill. By-Products and Their Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activity against Multiresistant Bacteria

“…Overall, the inner shell extract presented the lowest MIC values against Gram-negative bacteria, whereas the leaf extract had the lowest MIC values on Gram-positive bacteria. The antibacterial activity mechanisms of phenolic compounds have been extensively studied and it has been reported that they can act on the cell membrane, inactive essential enzymes, and/or modify the function of genetic material [56]. The chestnut extracts were not effective against E. coli and S. enteritidis and the other Gram-negative bacteria displayed small inhibition zones for the highest concentration of the extracts.…”

“…The chestnut extracts were not effective against E. coli and S. enteritidis and the other Gram-negative bacteria displayed small inhibition zones for the highest concentration of the extracts. Despite the fact that all Gram-negative bacteria present multiple antibiotic resistances, it is known that cell walls of Gram-negative bacteria represent a major barrier for the entry of phenolic compounds into the cell cytoplasm due to the repulsion between lipopolysaccharide found in the surfaces of Gram-negative bacteria and phenols [56,57]. Nevertheless, both K. pneumoniae and P. aeruginosa were inhibited by inner and outer shell extracts with MICs of 50 and 75 mg/mL, respectively.…”

Development of an Energy Biorefinery Model for Chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) Shells

“…The treatment with AC is considered an effective method for the removal of phenolic compounds from LB hydrolyzates because of the large surface area of the charcoal particles, high adsorption capacity, and availability [36]. In addition, because some of these potential inhibitory molecules possess strong antioxidant power, their subsequent desorption from charcoal enables the recovery of bioactive compounds that can be further utilized for value-added applications [18,28,30,33,39]. In our experiments, different concentrations of AC were tested to obtain a substantial removal of phenolic compounds, but at the same time minimizing the loss of fermentable sugars.…”

Comparative Insight upon Chitosan Solution and Chitosan Nanoparticles Application on the Phenolic Content, Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activities of Individual Grape Components of Sousão Variety

“…These results are independent of chitosan treatment since other studies used extracts of grape individual components and have reported similar results. Despite the fact that all Gram-negative bacteria used in this study present multiple antibiotic resistances, it is known that cell walls of Gram-negative represent a major barrier for the entry of phenolic compounds into cell cytoplasm due to the repulsion between lipopolysaccharide found in the surfaces of Gram-negative bacteria and phenols [42,43]. In this study, phenolic extracts did not have any effect against E. coli, K. pneumoniae and S. enteritidis.…”