Agricultural and Biological Research

Antimicrobial activity and enzymatic inhibition of four leaf extracts used as food packaging in the conservation of tomato puree

Camel Lagnika*, Samuel Hermann S Chanhoun, Abdou Madjid O Amoussa and Latifou Lagnika

Preserving the quality of tomatoes and extending their shelf life, due to their high perishability, is a major concern in the food industry, as consumers are increasingly wary of consuming foods with chemical additives. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of hydroethanolic extracts from four leaves (Daniellia oliveri, Pouteria alnifolia, Tectona grandis and Thalia geniculata), used as vegetable food packaging, as natural tomato puree preservative. Evaluation of antioxidant activity using 2,2-Diphenyl-1-Picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) Radical Scavenging showed that Tectona grandis exhibited the highest scavenging activity, followed by Pouteria alnifolia, Daniellia oliveri and Thalia geniculata, respectively. Antibacterial activity tests conducted on reference strains Escherichia coli Collection Institut Pasteur (CIP) 53126 and Staphylococcus aureus American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) 6538 revealed that S. aureus was more sensitive, with Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) values ranging from 1.25 to 2.50 mg/mL for the four plant extracts, compared to E. coli (2.5 mg/mL to 5 mg/mL). Tectona grandis extract exhibited the strongest antiradical activity, similar to ascorbic acid, followed by the extracts of Pouteria alnifolia, Daniellia oliveri and Thalia geniculata.

Physicochemical analysis of the tomato puree showed minimal pH variation and high enzyme inhibition in all samples containing the extracts, compared to the control, during the five-day storage period. This study suggests that the leaf extracts from the four plants studied can be successfully used in preserving tomato concentrate, with Tectona grandis extract showing the most pronounced preservative effect.