Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Potential of Locally Sun Dried Garlic and Ginger Powder Available in District Layyah, Punjab, Pakistan

In the last few decades, the awareness among populations escalated about the safety issues of food additives that also resulted in global shift of consumers towards utilization of products with natural ingredients. Generally, spices like garlic and ginger are widely used in the cuisines and traditional medicines. In the present research, dried garlic and ginger powder were purchased from local market of Layyah and their antioxidant and antimicrobial potential was assessed. The results indicated the varied nutritional composition e.g. garlic contains less amounts of total sugars and higher amounts of ascorbic acid as compared to inverse trends in ginger for same traits. Both garlic and ginger contain significant amounts of macro and micro minerals. Dried ginger powder showed higher antioxidant potential as compared to the garlic. Ginger contains higher amounts of total polyphenols 826.74±37.01 mg GAE/100 g as compared to the garlic 297.80±10.72 mg GAE/100 g. Dried ginger powder showed higher inhibition of 63.74±2.23% as compared to 44.12±1.89% for garlic powder. The antimicrobial potential of the dried garlic and ginger powder yielded varied results as garlic was slightly more effective antimicrobial agent than ginger with the exception of campylobacter. However, the results regarding antimicrobial potential are based on the unidentified strains of microorganisms isolated from local fruit juices. Overall, the results indicated the potential of dried garlic and ginger powder as natural antioxidants and antimicrobial agents.