Fatty acids are derived from renewable natural products and they are known to exhibit various biological activities including antimicrobial activity. Taking advantage of the double bond and the carboxylic acid functional groups present in fatty acids, chemical modification is commonly carried out to enhance or explore new biological activity. In our research group the carboxylic acid functional group of medium chain fatty acids was modified with heterocyclic amines to form different fatty acid amide derivatives. The fatty acid derivatives were evaluated for their effectiveness against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria with emphasis on food-borne pathogens. Some of the compounds exhibited excellent activity against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. The low inhibitory concentration, which is in the range of millimolar concentration, against the food-born pathogen is very promising and the potential application of the active fatty acid derivatives as food preservatives has been investigated.  The synthesis of the modified fatty acids and their effectiveness as antimicrobial agents against different bacterial strains will be presented.

Antimicrobial activity of medium chain fatty acid amides and their potential application as food preservatives

ACS Fall 2020 Virtual Meeting

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