In vitro antimicrobial activities of Bidens pilosa and Moringa oleifera leaf extracts and their effects on ground beef quality during cold storage

This study determined the activities of Bidens pilosa and Moringa oleifera leaf extracts on microbial count of ground beef during 6-day cold storage. Fresh ground beef sample was treated with butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) (0.2 g/kg), M. oleifera (ML, 1 g/kg) and B. pilosa (BP, 1 g/kg) leaf extracts and compared with the control. The result of the phytochemical contents revealed that ML extract had higher phenolic and flavonoid contents than BP extract (p > 0.05). The antibacterial assay of the extracts revealed an appreciable broad-spectrum activity against tested bacteria with minimum inhibitory concentrations between 0.6 and 10.0mg/mL. Addition of ML leaf extract to ground beef sample lowered total viable and lactic acid bacteria (p<0.05) counts than control and BHT treatments at day 3 of storage. These results suggest that ML leaf extract could be used as potential sources of natural antimicrobial agent in meat products.