Determination of the Chemical Content and Antibacterial Activity of Mentha spicata Leaves and Evaluation of its Use in the Preservation of Some Foods

Background: People have become interested in consuming high-quality, safe, natural foods with the increased spread of green consumerism worldwide. Methods: Prepare a coating solution from leaves of spearmint Mentha spicata with glycerol, estimate the antimicrobial activity and application of this coated on apricots and study the effect on weight loss, soluble solids content, antioxidant activity and sensory evaluation. Result: The qualitative detection of the bioactive compounds of the spearmint M. spicata leaves showed its continent included tannins, alkaloids, flavonoids, coumarins, terpenes, and saponins. The used concentrations of 12.5 and 25 mg mL-1 from spearmint coating solution (SCS) showed a non-significant effect at (P≤0.05). In comparison, the 50 and 100 mg mL-1 showed a significant effect at (P≤0.05) as antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus. The weight loss of coated apricots after storage for 30 d at 4°C was 20.06, 18.52, 14.84 and 13.42%. Also, the soluble solids content was 17.3, 16.7, 14.1 and 13.9%. The antioxidant activity (Inhibition%) was increased to 30, 34, 39 and 47% using SCS of 12.5, 25, 50 and 100 mg mL-1 as a coating material. The sensory evaluation found significant differences at (P≤0.05) between treatments for all characteristics. The coating kept the consumer’s acceptance of consuming these fruits through characteristics of appearance, aroma and taste after storage for 30 d at 4°C.