Elsevier

Food Chemistry

Volume 190, 1 January 2016, Pages 724-729
Food Chemistry

Antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of commercial rice wine extracts of Taiwanese Allium fistulosum

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2015.06.019Get rights and content

Highlights

Abstract

The antioxidant and antibacterial activities of commercial rice wine extracts obtained from different plant parts of Allium fistulosum were assayed. The results showed that commercial rice wine extracts of A. fistulosum contained 28.3–95.9 μL/mL allicin and exhibited significant antioxidant and antibacterial activities. The DPPH radical scavenging capacity ranged from 90.2% to 52.1%, and the IC50 value ranged from 14.6 to 26.0 μg/mL. The total phenolic content of wine extracts was 56.4–198.9 mg GAE/g extracts. The TEAC assay of extracts ranged from 6.2 to 15.5 mmol/g extracts. Antibacterial activities were tested against 4 bacteria by using agar disc diffusion and tube dilution tests. All extracts exhibited antibacterial activities against gram-positive bacteria, such as Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus, and gram-negative bacteria, such as Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Thus, A. fistulosum wine extracts could be used as natural and functional additives in cooking foods.

Introduction

Allium fistulosum (Welsh onion), is an indispensable ingredient in Asian cuisine. Welsh onion is rich in fiber and can facilitate digestion, prevent constipation and colon diseases, and exert other effects. In addition, it is rich in vitamins A, C, E and K and carbohydrates, proteins, lipids as well as magnesium, calcium, iron, potassium, and other ingredients (Sakakibara, Honda, Nakagawa, Ashida, & Kanazawa, 2003). In recent years, research has been published regarding the benefits of Welsh onion on the human body, including the prevention of cardiovascular diseases and the occurrence of cancer (Fujisawa et al., 2008; Stajner et al., 2006; Stajner, Igic, Popovic, & Malencic, 2008), removal of free radicals in vivo and antioxidant capacity (Aoyama and Yamamoto, 2007, Chang et al., 2013, Marta et al., 2007, Santas et al., 2008, Stajner et al., 2006), antiplatelet activities (Makheja, Vanderhoek, & Bailey, 1979). Welsh onion has protective effects in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease and can act as an anti-cancer and antioxidant agent due to its anti-prostanoid and anti-inflammatory responses and decreased rate of DNA degradation (Feng & Liu, 2011). Additionally, many researchers have described the antibacterial ingredients, such as allicin of Welsh onion and garlic extract, could inhibit the growth of Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida albicans, and Escherichia coli (Santas et al., 2010, Tsao and Yin, 2001a, Tsao and Yin, 2001b, Yin et al., 2002).

The 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging and 2,2′-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzo-thiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTSradical dot+) removal capabilities are commonly used methods for determining the antioxidant activity of plant extracts (Jara & Fulgencio, 2008). Huang, Wang, Eaves, Shikany, and Pace (2009) noted that the antioxidant capacity of vegetable samples was highly related to their total phenolic content. The antioxidant activity of vanilla plant and green tea extracts can be evaluated using DPPH radical scavenging capacity, total phenolic content, and total antioxidant capability assays (Tsai, Tsai, Chia, Lee, & Tsai, 2008). Therefore, in this study the aforementioned methods were employed to measure the antioxidant activity of Welsh onions.

The purpose of this study was to develop a rapid method for obtaining the active constituents of Welsh onion by using commercial rice wine. Welsh onions grown in Sunshin, Yilan County, Taiwan were used as raw materials and commercial Michiu Tou (MT) wine (34% alcohol) and Michiu (M) wine (19.5% alcohol) made from rice to prepare extracts of different plant parts of Welsh onions. In order to evaluate the potential use of Welsh onion extracts, their allicin content, antioxidant capacity and antimicrobial activity were determined.

Section snippets

Test materials and chemicals

A. fistulosum ‘Lan Yang No. 1’ grown in Sunshin, Yilan County, Taiwan were used as test materials. The Whole Welsh onion plant (AFI) was planted in April 2013 and harvested in July 2013, because the time required from planting to harvesting is approximately 84–90 d. The ‘Lan Yang No.1’ cultivar of A. fistulosum obtained from the lush agricultural region of Sunshin, Yilan County, Taiwan had the following characteristics. The Welsh onion root (AFR) length was 3.6–12.8 cm, the Welsh onion stem (AFS)

Plant material characteristics

The moisture content values of A. fistulosum of AFR, AFS, and AFL was 85.5%, 93.2%, and 93.6%, respectively. The moisture content of these Welsh onion parts was similar to that of Taiwanese Welsh onion parts, which is up to 92%, and similar to the moisture content of Sunshin Welsh onion parts measured in a previous study (Chang et al., 2013).

Antioxidant activity of Taiwanese Welsh onions

Results regarding the total phenolic content and total antioxidant capacity of different plant parts of A. fistulosum are shown in Table 1. The total

Conclusion

This work presented the potential use of the antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of the commercial wine extracts of Welsh onions. The antioxidant and antibacterial capacities of the tested extracts are dependent on parts of the plant and kinds of extract wine. It has been noted that the Welsh onions MT and M wine extracts show high radical-scavenging activity (>80%) and can be considered a good source of natural antioxidants and antimicrobials. It was also found that the DPPH radical

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