Potential Usefulness of Chlorogenic Acid from Vegetables and Industrial Wastes

Abstract

The resistance of microorganisms to drugs in pharmaceutical industry and the food contamination and spoilage by microorganisms in food industry are serious problems. Control of these microorganisms is of importance not only for industry but also for government health agencies. As a result of this problematic, all these years an intensive search for new compounds able to replace currently used drugs was performed. The utilization of phenolic compounds as antimicrobial agents or a possible pharmaceutical drug would provide additional benefits due to their health beneficial properties. Caffeic acid is one of the most abundant hydroxycinnamic acids in the human diet and chlorogenic acid (5-O-caffeoyl-quinic acid), an ester of caffeic acid with quinic acid, has been received considerable attentions for their potential biological effects. Chlorogenic acid has antioxidant property and probable roles in diseases such as cancer, parkinson and cardiovascular as well as antimicrobial activity. In this chapter, we present the last researches that indicate that chlorogenic acid of different plant sources or derived products could be a possible candidate to be utilized in different industries. The advantages in the usefulness of chlorogenic acid as antimicrobial agent are discussed in relation with its antimicrobial effectivity and its health benefits.