Assessment of Oligogalacturonide from Citrus Pectin as a Potential Antibacterial Agent against Foodborne Pathogens

Foodborne diseases are an important public health problem in the world. The bacterial resistance against presently used antibiotics is becoming a public health issue; hence, the discovery of new antimicrobial agents from natural sources attracts a lot of attention. Antibacterial activities of oligogalacturonide from commercial microbial pectic enzyme (CPE) treated citrus pectin, which exhibits antioxidant and antitumor activities, against 4 foodborne pathogens including Salmonella Typhimurium, Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa was assessed. Pectin hydrolysates from CPE hydrolysis exhibited antibacterial activities. However, no antibacterial activity of pectin was observed. Citrus oligogalacturonide from 24-h hydrolysis exhibited bactericidal effect against all selected foodborne pathogens and displayed minimal inhibitory concentration at 37.5 mu g/mL for P. aeruginosa, L. monocytogenes, and S. Typhimurium, and at 150.0 mu g/mL for S. aureus.