Antioxidant and antifungal activity of Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) essential oil in cake

In recent years, essential oils have been qualified as natural antioxidants and proposed as potential substitutes of synthetic antioxidants in food preservation. The safety of the synthetic antioxidants has been doubted. In this study essential oil of coriander were analyzed by GC/MS and its chemical compositions were identified. Camphor (44.99%), cyclohexanol acetate (cis-2-tert.butyl-) (14.45%), limonene (7.17%), α-pinene (6.37%), were the main components of coriander essential oil (CEO). Then, antioxidant and antifungal activities of CEO were evaluated in cake during 60 day storage at room temperature. The results indicated that, CEO at 0.05, 0.10 and 0.15% inhibited the rate of primary and secondary oxidation products formation in cake and their effects were almost equal to BHA at 0.02 % (p 0.01). Antioxidant effects of this essential oil may be due to its trepene and terpenoid components. CEO at 0.15 % could inhibit the growth of fungal in the cake. Organoleptic evaluation of cakes containing CEO at 0.05 % was not different from the control (p 0.01). Results showed that this essential oil could be used as natural antioxidant and antifungal in foodstuffs especially those lipid containing.