Antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of pomegranate peel extract improves the shelf life of chicken products

The antioxidant and antimicrobial potential of pomegranate peel and seed extract was investigated. Pomegranate peel extract (PE) showed excellent antioxidant activity while the seed extract (PS) did not have any significant activity. The IC(50) value of PE for 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging was 4.9 mu g mL(-1) while that of Butylated hydroxy toluene was 21.2 mu g mL(-1), indicating that it was a stronger antioxidant. The efficacy of PE in scavenging hydroxyl and superoxide anion radical was also very high. It also had good reducing power and iron chelation capacity. PE showed good antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus having minimum inhibitory concentration of 0.01%. Pseudomonas could be inhibited at a higher concentration of 0.1% while it was ineffective against Escherichia coli and S. typhimurium. Addition of PE to popular chicken meat products enhanced its shelf life by 2-3 weeks during chilled storage. PE was also effective in controlling oxidative rancidity in these chicken products.