Solanum Lycopersicum Phenotypes’ Juice Food Preservative Potentials: Its Antimicrobial Investigation

Consumers’ increasing awareness of the health implication of synthetic food preservatives alongside the perceived benefits of natural food additives calls for the search for natural food preservatives as an alternative. This study employed total microbial counts, antimicrobial susceptibility test and sensory evaluation methods to investigate meat preservative potential of lyophilized Solanum lycopersicum (Tomato) phenotypes’ juice organic solvent extracts in comparison to other preservative methods including salting and boiling. The findings revealed significant (P<0.05) decrease in the total microbial load alongside 24-hour microbial growth lag in meat treated with the Tomato juice in comparison to untreated (control) and salted meat; but increase as compared to boiled meat. Relative to other tomato phenotypes extracts, the ethyl acetate extract of ripe round-undulated Tomato (YRR) and ethanolic extract of ripe elongated Tomato (HER) exhibited the highest inhibitory potential against Staphylococcus aureus (16.2 ± 0.40 mm), and Staphylococcus aureus (12.0 ± 0.25 mm) and  Bacillus subtilis(1.5 ± 0.20 mm) respectively. Averagely, very good sensory qualities (colour, odour and general acceptability) were recorded within 24 hours for the Tomato juice treated meat as well as boiled meat. A time-dependent decrease in the overall sensory qualities was observed for all the preservative treatments. Our results have highlighted the preservative potential of lyophilized Solanum lycopersicum juice. Most importantly, it offers comparably better preservation potential than salting method.