Antimicrobial Activity of Aqueous Extracts Acquired from the Seeds of Two Apples' Cultivars

Abstract

The pathogenic resistance to many standing antimicrobial agents alarms the urgency to explore original agents especially those derived from a natural provenance for managing this issue. In this study, aqueous extracts were prepared from the seeds of two apples' cultivars, Granny Smith and Red Delicious apples. This preparation was performed via two styles, which are non-serial and serially sorted in the increasing polarity. For each style, the extraction was accomblished by three methods including microwave- and ultrasound- aiding extraction techniques, and kinetic maceration. The microbiological studies were conducted on these extracts utilizing four standard bacterial strains (Klebsiella pneumonia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, and Haemophilus influenzae) and two standard fungal strains (Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans). These in vitro studies were carried out via a well-documented agar disc diffusion method using ciprofloxacin and nystatin as golden references. The results indicated that these extracts showed an acceptable antimicrobial activity against the test pathogens with a primacy to those extracts acquired from Red Delicious apple seeds. Also, the results revealed that the preferable extraction style was the non-serial one and the favoured technique was the ultrasound-aiding extraction. It is concluded that these aqueous extracts may be useful as antimicrobial preparations with the possibility of their application as a home remedy for local bacterial and fungal infections.