Abstract
To develope natural food preservatives of pine needle (Pinus densiflora Seib et Zucc.) extract, pine needle sap, ethanol and ether extracts were prepared for investigation of antimicrobial activities against food-related bacteria and yeasts. All extracts exhibited growth inhibiting activities for most of microorganisms tested. However, in general, growth inhibiting activities were higher in ethanol extract than in sap or ether extract. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of ethanol extract for Lactobacillus casei, Pseudomonas aeruginosa or Escherchia coli were as low as 0.1 mg/ml, whereas MIC of sap or ether extract for most bacteria and yeasts were 0.25-0.8mg/ml, indicating that the ethanol extract showed the antimicrobial activity by 2.5 $\sim$8 times higher than the sap and ether extract. The antimicrobial activity of the ethanol extract was reduced by heating or alkali treatment. Moreover, growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa was completely inhibited within 24 hours by the addition of at least 50ppm of ethanol extract. These findings suggest that pine needle, specially the ethanol extrat may play a role for natural food preservatives.
