Fabiana Thomé da Cruz

Atividade antibacteriana in vitro de pimentas e pimentões (Capsicum sp.) sobre quatro bactérias toxinfectivas alimentares

In vitro antibacterial activity of hot and sweet peppers (Capsicum sp.) on four food toxinfective bacteria. The intensity of bacterial inhibition activity (IINIB) and the intensity of bacterial inactivation activity (IINAB) of extracts of eight peppers of the genus Capsicum, ethnographically located in the metropolitan region of Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil, were assessed in vitro through Dilution Tests in Multiple Tube Series against standardized bacterial inocula (American Type Culture Collection - ATCC), Staphylococcus aureus (25923), Enterococcus faecalis (19433), Salmonella enteritidis (13076), and Escherichia coli (11229), respectively, at challenge doses = 10 7 CFU mL -1 . Four of these species, cayenne pepper (Capsicum sp pool), garden pepper (C. annuum), aji pepper (C. baccatum), and malagueta pepper (C. frutescens), had selective inhibition and inactivation activities, in decreasing order, to salmonella, fecal coliforms, enterococcus and staphylococcus. The remaining ones, cambuci pepper (C. baccatum) and yellow, green and red sweet peppers (C. annuum) had no activity. The validity of the ethnographic tool in the exploration of antibacterial protection factors from plants, as well as the influence of inhibition/inactivation in the bacteriological diagnosis predictability, is discussed.

5th Food Safety and Security Symposium: food and health

The 5o Simposio de Seguranca Alimentar (5th Food Safety and Security Symposium) was held in May, 2015, in Bento Goncalves, RS, Brazil with the objective of discussing the interrelation between food and health, in various perspectives. This paper reviews the state of the art regarding all the issues discussed during the Symposium, connecting them with the lectures presented at the conference. As final remarks, it was perceived that the interrelation between food and health is growing stronger and cannot be discussed without involving the different areas involved.