Antimicrobial screening of some Indian spices.

In India, spices have been traditionally used since ancient times, for the preservation of food products as they have been reported to have antiseptic and disinfectant properties. In this respect, a preliminary screening for antimicrobial activities of 35 different Indian spices has been carried out. Of the spices surveyed, the results indicate that clove, cinnamon, bishop's weed, chilli, horse raddish, cumin, tamarind, black cumin, pomegranate seeds, nutmeg, garlic, onion, tejpat, celery, cambodge, have potent antimicrobial activities against the test organisms Bacillus subtilis (ATCC 6633), Escherichia coli (ATCC 10536) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae (ATCC 9763). The results also establish the traditional use of spices as food preservatives, disinfectants and antiseptics. Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.