Study of antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of grape seed extract and evaluation of its sensory characteristics in sponge cake

The main problem of industrial cake production is microbial and chemical corruption that reduce the cake expiry period. One of the preservation method is using the synthetic preservatives. Nowadays, the customers understand these protective agents have several side effects on the health, so recently, it is tried to exchange the chemical antioxidants with the natural ones. Two groups of the naturals are flavonoids and phenolic acids which exist in the vegetables and fruit. Grape is a big natural source of phenolic compounds. Therefore, in the present study antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of grape seeds extract were investigated and followed by evaluation of sensory characteristics in sponge cake. According to the results, grape seed showed significant effects on improving sensory and physical characteristics of the sponge cake. Also measuring the chemical properties of the sponge cake proves the extract antioxidant activities. The grape extract exhibited the best antioxidant effect at a concentration of 3200 ppm. In addition, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of the extract were 1 and 2 mg/ml, respectively. Sensory properties including color, texture, taste, smell, and overall acceptability showed that using 0.2% (w/w) of the grape seed extract in the sponge cake formulation improves its sensory properties.