Abstracts for Other Oral Presentations

s for Other Oral Presentations Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/napcproceedings Part of the International and Area Studies Commons This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the North American Prairie Conference at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska Lincoln. "Abstracts for Other Oral Presentations" (2004). Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences. 93. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/napcproceedings/93 ABSTRACTS FOR OTHER ORAL P RESENTAT!ONSS FOR OTHER ORAL P RESENTAT!ONS Abstracts for Other Oral Presentationss for Other Oral Presentations (alphabetical by first author) CAJUN PRAIRIE HERBS: THEIR ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY AGAINST ESCHERICHIA COU0157:H7 lamed Al-dujaili* and Malcolm F. Vidrine Division of Sciences, LSUE, Eunice, LA 70535 Herbs have a long history of use in many cultures. Uses include preserving foods, enhancing flavor and aroma of foods, and medicinal applications. Most of the food,borne bacterial pathogens are sensit ive to extracts from mints, garl ic, and clove, with the extent of sensitivity varying with the bacteria l strain and environmental conditions imposed in the analyses. The antimicrobial compounds of (he herbs are usually found in the essential oil extraction. In addition to the antimicrobial activity, herbs have antioxidant properties that are effective in retarding rancidity during the storage of meat. T he purpose of this paper is to report the inhibitory effects of herbs found in the Cajun Prairie in southwestern Louisiana. T he fo llowing native prairie herbs were studied: Nothoscardum bivalve (fa lse garl ic), P)'cnanthemum albeseens, P. mutacum, P. tenuifolium (mountain mints), Monardafistulosa, M . linciheimeri, M . punc, tata (wild bergamots or beebalms), and Solidago odora (sweet goldenrod). Twelve species (the eight native herbs and exotic species including dill, fennel, society garlic, and basil) were tested for activity against Escherichia coli 0 157:H7 (a potential le thal inhabitant of meat products). Four levels of essential oi l extracts (2, 4, 6, and 8% v/w) of each species were used with the target bacterium in sorbitol MacConkey agar and in ground beef. The species of herbs showed varying levels of inhibitory effects on colonial growth of the bacterium. Sweet goldenrod, di ll , basil, fennel, wild bergamots, and society garl ic typically reduced the bacterial populations in select ive agar and ground beef by 40-80%. False garl ic showed a 95% effect, while the mountain mints showed greater than a 99% reduc, tion in bacteria l colonies. Thus, the native fa lse garlic and mountain mints are more effective among the native and exotic species tested. These results clearly show the dramatic potential of native Cajun Prairie plants in the food and medic,