Evaluation of antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of selected Turkish spices

Herbs and their constituents have been used with preserving, flavouring and colouring purposes, while nowadays modern wealth society is experiencing a trend of `green consumerism? since the unpopular synthetics have been abandoned and eco-friendly food has been designed. In this case the research refers to edible plants since they are able to extend food shelf-life improving its total quality as well as a source of bioactive compounds promoting health. Turkey has a strong experience of using wild or cultıvated plant both for food preserving or healing purposes. Samples of the five Turkish spice used to perform the experiments has been collected from farmer?s market in the district of Konya in October 2012. Sumac (Rhus coriaria) and Zaater (Thymbra spicata) samples have been collected from nature; on the other hand Oregano (Origanum vulgare), Mint (Mentha spicata) and Basil (Ocimum basilicum) have been cultivated and collected using organic methods. The antimicrobial tests have been carried on Agar Disc Diffusion Assay of crude spice and spice extracts in Ethanol, Dimetilsülfoksit and water on E. coli and S. aureus demonstrating the impressive bacteriostatic activity of Rhus coriaria, Origanum vulgare and Thymbra spicata crude and plant extracts. The antioxidant assay (Troloks Equivalent Antioxidant Capacity) has shown that Rhus coriaria and Origanum vulgare held the highest antioxidant activity likely their components are mainly phenolic compounds. The results of this work demonstrated the relationship between the antioxidant and the antimicrobial activities of the spices to the total phenols and flavonoid content in the vegetable matter.