Phenolic Compounds from Wine as Natural Preservatives of Fish Meat   

María José Rodríguez-Vaquero^1,2*, Pedro Aredes Aredes-Fernández² and María Cristina Manca de Nadra^1,2†

¹Faculty of Biochemistry, Chemistry and Pharmacy, National University of Tucumán, Ayacucho 471, 4000 Tucumán, Argentina
²Reference Center for Lactobacilli (CERELA), Chacabuco 145, 4000 Tucumán, Argentina

Article history:
Received April 23, 2012
Accepted October 4, 2012

Key words:
phenolic compounds, L. monocytogenes, E. coli, fish meat, antibacterial effect

Summary:
The aim of this work is to investigate the antibacterial effect of phenolic compound combinations and total polyphenols of Argentinean red wine varieties against Escherichia coli ATCC 35218 and Listeria monocytogenes using commercial fish meat as model food. Rutin-quercetin combination and three wine varieties (Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Merlot) caused cellular death of both bacteria on fish meat at 4 °C. Rutin-quercetin combination was effective on fish meat even at 20 °C. Clarified wines did not affect the bacteria, indicating that wine polyphenols are responsible for the observed effect. The use of wine phenolic compounds as antibacterial agent could be used to prevent contamination and extend the shelf life of fish meat. A big finding of this work is the use of rutin–quercetin combination as preservative for the conservation of fish meat and its transport to the fish market, which is an effective antibacterial agent even when the transport temperature is not constant.

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