The Bactericidal Activity of Protein Extracts from <i>Loranthus europaeus</i> Berries: A Natural Resource of Bioactive Compounds
<i>Loranthus europaeus</i> is a well-known and important medicinal plant, with a long history of traditional medicine use. Several studies showed that it contains many bioactive compounds with a wide range of pharmacological effects. In light of these past researches, <i>L. europae...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Book |
| Published: |
MDPI AG,
2020-01-01T00:00:00Z.
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| Summary: | <i>Loranthus europaeus</i> is a well-known and important medicinal plant, with a long history of traditional medicine use. Several studies showed that it contains many bioactive compounds with a wide range of pharmacological effects. In light of these past researches, <i>L. europaeus</i> were chosen to consider its potential antimicrobial action. To this aim, different protocols were performed to selectively extract protein compounds, from <i>L. europaeus</i> yellow fruits, and evaluate the antimicrobial activity against four phytopathogenic fungi (<i>Aspergillus niger</i>, <i>Alternaria</i> spp., <i>Penicillium</i> spp., <i>Botritis cinereus</i>) and a number of foodborne bacterial pathogens (<i>Listeria monocytogenes</i>, <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> strains, <i>Salmonella</i> Typhimurium and <i>Escherichia coli</i>) by using serial dilutions and colony formation assays. Results evidenced no antifungal activity but a notable bactericidal efficiency of a crude protein extract against two foodborne pathogens, with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) values between 0.2 and 0.5 mg/mL, being <i>S. aureus</i> strains the most susceptible bacteria. Moreover, a strong bactericidal activity against <i>S. aureus</i> M7 was observed by two partially purified protein fractions of about 600 and 60 kDa molecular mass in native conditions. Therefore, these plant protein extracts could be used as natural alternative preventives to control food poisoning diseases and preserve foodstuff avoiding health hazards of chemically antimicrobial applications. |
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| Item Description: | 2079-6382 10.3390/antibiotics9020047 |