The concept of healthy diet prevails plant extracts play a great role in the field of food preservatives

At present, food preservatives are mostly synthetic chemicals, such as benzoic acid, sodium benzoate, sorbic acid, potassium sorbate, calcium propionate and so on Although they will not cause harm to human body as long as they are added properly, they are not beneficial to health Under the guidance of the concept of healthy diet, natural preservatives began to replace artificial preservatives gradually, such as nisin and Monascus from microorganisms; lysozyme, chitosan, protamine and propolis from animals; tea polyphenols and garlic extracts from plants Many plant ingredients have the characteristics of sterilization and insecticidal, and have certain health care function for human body, so plant extracts will play an increasingly important role in the field of food preservatives The following plant extracts are natural preservatives widely used in the field of food Pomegranate peel extract: the thick and hard to peel pomegranate peel is a natural preservative of meat As a traditional Chinese medicine, pomegranate peel has the effect of stopping diarrhea, hemostasis and insect repellent However, scientists from India have found that pomegranate peel extract has an extraordinary effect on the preservation of meat It can keep the freshness of meat for a week without affecting the taste without freezing You should know that in the refrigerated environment, meat can only be kept fresh for two days at most After freezing, the taste and nutritional value of meat will be greatly reduced There are many alkaloids in pomegranate peel The antimicrobial test showed that the alcohol extract and Peel Decoction of pomegranate had broad-spectrum antibacterial effect, and had obvious inhibitory effect on many kinds of bacteria and fungi Under normal temperature, fresh meat will breed various bacteria in a day, such as E.coli, Salmonella, Clostridium perfringens, etc eating this meat will lead to serious diseases, such as abdominal colic, headache, fever, diarrhea, if not handled in time or even death Therefore, the food industry will add preservatives to inhibit the growth of microorganisms, in order to extend the shelf life of food Mutton is more difficult to preserve than pork and beef It can only be kept fresh for 6 hours without refrigeration after being cut At present, there is no technology to make the storage life of fresh mutton more than 20 hours without chemical preservatives However, by injecting special substances extracted from pomegranate peel into mutton, it can effectively prevent the meat from rotting and breeding bacteria Scientists say that although the pomegranate peel extract is mainly studied on mutton, it can also play a role in chicken and pork Green tea extract: the natural preservative of pastry, tea polyphenol, is the active ingredient extracted from green tea leaves It is not only an antioxidant, scavenging free radicals and other health care functions, but also a antiseptic for sterilization and detoxification It can kill botulinum and spores, inhibit the activity of bacterial exotoxin, and obviously inhibit Staphylococcus aureus and mutant bacteria As antioxidants and preservatives, tea polyphenols have been widely used in food industry According to China's food additive standards, tea polyphenols can be used in oil, moon cake, ham and other foods When tea polyphenols are added to meat products, the protein on the surface of meat products and tea polyphenols can form a layer of impermeable dura, which can inhibit the oxidation and rancidity of meat products, the growth of bacteria and prevent the deterioration of meat products In addition, tea polyphenols have the function of inhibiting oil oxidation and rancidity, and they have been used in the fields of edible animal and vegetable oil, fried food and aquatic products preservation Cake is the most suitable food for adding tea polyphenols It can not only solve the antisepsis of baked food such as moon cake and cake, but also make green tea Matcha taste through tea polyphenols, which is a kind of flavor that can increase the flavor and taste of food and is popular Garlic extract: the best plant preservative garlic extract is allicin Allicin can activate cells, promote energy production, increase antibacterial and antiviral ability, and has a strong killing effect on Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria Japanese scholars have found that garlic has a strong inhibition and killing effect on dozens of bacteria and fungi that cause food corruption, and its action intensity is equivalent to or even stronger than chemical preservatives benzoic acid and sorbic acid, which is the most powerful one of natural plants found at present Allicin has a special effect on the preservation of fruits and vegetables Garlic extract can significantly improve the flavor and color of fruit, improve the quality of fruit, reduce the red index and decay rate, inhibit the loss of vitamin C content, and retain the nutrients to a large extent Cinnamon extract: natural fruit preservative cinnamon extract cinnamaldehyde has strong bactericidal, antiseptic and antitumor effects Foreign researchers studied the antifungal effects of cinnamaldehyde on 22 kinds of conditional pathogenic fungi The results showed that cinnamaldehyde had antifungal effects on all the tested fungi Cinnamaldehyde can be used in food, vegetables and fruits for preservation and antisepsis; it can be used in fruit products to improve the taste and flavor, it can also replace sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate for antisepsis of tea drinks, and it can also be used in wine to make its color bright China is a big country of fruit production in the world Because of the perishability of fruit and the influence of seasonal and regional factors, it is very important to preserve and preserve the fruits At present, there are more than 20 kinds of preservatives used in the storage and transportation of fruits in China, such as carbendazim, thiabendazole, thiophanate methyl, sulfur dioxide, etc These preservatives have certain toxicity and will affect the taste of fruits Cinnamaldehyde has the advantages of low toxicity, safety, low cost and aromatic smell As a safe natural source material, the national food safety standard for the use of food additives does not stipulate the dosage of cinnamaldehyde as a preservative In view of its many advantages, cinnamaldehyde is expected to become the most common preservative for fruits.