ANTIBACTERIAL POTENTIAL AND CYTOTOXICITY EFFECTS OF SOME PLANTS' CRUDE JUICES

Abstract

In the latest years, there was an interest in seeking for antimicrobial substances of botanical parts that have capability to suppress foodborne pathogens. Therefore, the antibacterial activity was evaluated on the crude juices produced from the mechanical pressing of some agro and food industrial byproducts, i.e., pomegranate leaves and peels and the leaves of fig, guava and olive. Also, the cytotoxicity effects of these crude juices on normal cells were estimated to check the safety of these crude juices on the human body. The results elucidate that the crude juice of pomegranate peels showed bactericidal ability against all tested bacteria. Olive leaves crude juice exhibited bactericidal ability against S. aureus, B. cereus and E. coli only, while guava leaves crude juice had a bactericidal activity against only S. aureus and P. aeruginosa. Otherwise, pomegranate leaves and fig leaves crude juices did not show any inhibition zones at all. Toxicological potential of crude juices under study revealed no cytotoxic effects at the concentrations used in the current study. Accordingly, pomegranate peels crude juice can be used as a naturalistic antibacterial substance to prohibit the deterioration of stored foods by bacteria moreover, the shelf-life of food would be expanded and massive economic losses due to food wastage would be avoided.