There are many reasons for the spoilage of fruits and vegetables, but they are mainly caused by the invasion of harmful microorganisms from the outside. Therefore, the preservation of fruits and vegetables after picking is very important. In recent years, chemical antiseptic preservatives have been widely used in the preservation of fruits and vegetables. However, with the rise of green food, people pay more and more attention to the pure naturalness of food. Therefore, natural, efficient, safe, non-toxic and stable performance Preservatives instead of chemical preservatives have become a hot topic in the research of food preservatives.
The mechanism of garlic extract to keep fruits and vegetables fresh is mainly related to its anti-disease and bactericidal properties. Garlic has a strong antibacterial ability against a variety of bacteria and fungi, and inhibits the growth and reproduction of microorganisms. It is safe to use its antibacterial properties to keep fruits and vegetables fresh. It is non-toxic and does not affect the original quality of fruits and vegetables.
Studies have shown that allicin is one of the main active ingredients of fresh garlic, with a broad antibacterial spectrum. It has antibacterial effects on both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, as well as against Escherichia coli, especially Candida albicans. It has a strong inhibitory effect and is also toxic to human intestinal parasites such as intestinal Lambertian flagella. The antibacterial mechanism of garlic extract allicin is that it can chemically react with the sulfhydryl group of sulfhydrylase, such as alcohol dehydrogenase, thioredoxin reductase, etc., thereby affecting the activity of cysteine protease and inhibiting metabolism. In addition, allicin inhibits cell growth and induces apoptosis, which can lead to depolarization of mitochondrial membranes, the release of cytochrome C into the cytoplasm, activation of caspase 9 and caspase 3, and DNA cleavage. Chinese research believes that it may be due to allicin and its further decomposition product ajoene, the disulfide, trisulfide, and other components in garlic oil can penetrate the cell membrane of pathogenic bacteria into the cytoplasm and interact with cysteine. The reaction makes the bacteria unable to carry out biological oxidation due to a lack of cysteine so that the pathogenic bacteria can not carry out normal metabolism.
