Antimicrobial activities in the Korean Traditional Leaf Mustard, Brassica juncea Coss.

As part of developing natural food preservatives, the antimicrobial effect of ethanol and water extracts from the Cruciferous vegetable was examined Korean traditional Brassica juncea Coss. was used widely as an ingredient of Kimchi, a natural flavoring and spice for a long time. Antimicrobial activities were examined against 15 microorganisms which were food-born pathogens and/or food poisioning microorganisms and food-related bacteria and yeasts. Ethanol extract from leaf mustard showed an antimicrobial effect in most of the strains used in the present study. The lowest minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) were seen in Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus natto at 10 mg/ml. MIC of water extract was 40-60 mg/ml for bacteria and yeast. Antimicrobial activity of the ethanol extract was not disappeared by the heating at $121^{\circ}C$ for 15 min and not affected by pH.