Page 495 - Demo

SECTION II. APPLIED BIOTECHNOLOGY IN THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY... 499development of effective and non-toxic medicines with stronger antioxidant activity. Future studies are required to decipher its structure and biosynthetic pathay.The significant finding is that the EPS secreted by L. plantarumMT12 served as a potent coating material to extend the shelf-life of strawberry. Mango fruits coated by EPS-type fucoidan showed lower weight loss rates than that of the control group [16]. EPS-E8 secreted by Pediococcus pentosaceus E8 reduced the weight loss and MDA content of strawberry after 7 days at 20%u00b0C [4]. These results were in agreement with our finding. It seems EPS forms a film with antibacterial and antioxidant to decrease respiration, transpiration rates, and contaminants caused by microorganisms. In addition, MDA of with EPS-treated strawberry was significantly lower than the control, which was attributed to reduction of lipid peroxidation of cell membranes and alleviation of tissue damage. As a result, the shelf-life of strawberry is improved. It is worthy to note that fungi grew well on the control samples, but not with EPS-treated strawberry. It indicated that EPS from L. plantarumMT12 also exhibited antifungal activity. Antifungal activity and application of EPS coating on other fruits will be interesting subjects for further studies. 5. CONCLUSIONSHere, L. plantarum MT12 was screened based on high EPS production with good antagonistic effect against 3 pathogenic bacteria. Further analysis revealed that antibacterial activity against S. typhimurium ATCC 14028, E. coli ATCC 11105, and S. epidermidis ATCC 12228 was dose-dependent manner. The crude EPS also exhibited antioxidant activity against DPPH and hydroxy radicals suggesting that EPS produced by L. plantarum MT12 may serve as a promising candidate in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmestic industries. Of note, the EPS