Abstract
Antimicrobial effect of tea extracts from green tea(steamed, roasted), oolong tea and black tea was investigated. Minimal inhibitory concentration(MIC) of tea extraxcts against 9 well known strains of foodborne pathogenic bacteria such as the Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria was determined at 37$^{\circ}C$. Significant antimicrobial activity was observed in the steamed green tea and the roasted green tea of the water-soluble fraciton, and the steamed green tea of the methanol-soluble fraction, and the steamed green tea, roasted green tea and the oolong tea of the crude catechin fraction. The MIC of these extracts against B. subtillis were 700$\mu\textrm{g}$/ml, 500$\mu\textrm{g}$/ml and 120 $\mu\textrm{g}$/ml, respectively. The crude catechin fraction possessed greater antimicrobial activity than did the other fractions. Among tea extracts, extracts of steamed green tea, roasted green tea and oolong tea showed higher antimicrobial activity than them of black tea. The MIC of the crude catechin fraction obtained from tea extracts against Gram-positive bacteria such as M. Iuteus, B. subtillis and S. mutans were 30~50$\mu\textrm{g}$/ml, 120~240$\mu\textrm{g}$/ml and 120~180$\mu\textrm{g}$/ml, and against Gram-negative bacteri such as e. aerogenes and V. parahaemolyticus were 50~60$\mu\textrm{g}$/ml and 60~70$\mu\textrm{g}$/ml in the broth medium, respectively. Especially, the MIC to Streptococcus mutans which has known as a causative bacteria of a decayed tooth were 120$\mu\textrm{g}$/ml, 140$\mu\textrm{g}$/ml, 180$\mu\textrm{g}$/ml and above 1,000$\mu\textrm{g}$/ml in steamed green tea, roasted green tea, oolong tea and black tea, respectively. Tea extracts had strong growth inhibition activity against foodborne pathogenic and dental bacteria.
