Article: Cranberry and oregano make seafood safe to eat

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http://www.newscientist.com/channel/health/mg18825205.000

 

 

Cranberry and oregano make seafood safe to eat

 

 

* 08 October 2005

 

* NewScientist.com news service

 

IN CULINARY terms they are poles apart: one is a staple of Italian

cuisine, the other an essential accompaniment to roast turkey. But put

oregano and cranberries together and you have a potent antibacterial

agent that could cut the risk of food poisoning from infected seafood.

 

So say Kalidas Shetty and his colleagues at the University of

Massachusetts in Amherst, who have been experimenting with different

ratios of cranberry and oregano extract to kill Vibrio parahaemolyticus,

a seafood-dwelling bacterium that can cause two-day bouts of stomach

cramps, vomiting and diarrhoea.

 

While both plants are known to contain phenolic compounds with

antimicrobial activity, Shetty had a hunch that they might be more

effective when used in combination. He found that using a 50:50 mixture

to coat cod fillets and shrimps infected with V. parahaemolyticus was

far more effective at killing the bugs than either of the compounds on

its own - probably because they disrupt different parts of the bacterial

cell. Lowering the pH with a dash of lactic acid made the concoction

even more effective (Innovative Food Science and Emerging Technologies,

vol 6, p 453).