Abstract
Mankind is facing an unprecedented threat of existence due to the antibiotic resistance developed by bacteria. The unripe fruits of Diospyros malabarica (Desr.) Kostel. (family: Ebenaceae) can be considered as one of the natural sources to tackle this issue. The present study is designed to assess the antimicrobial activity of D. malabarica seed and flesh ex-tracts. Herein, D. malabarica extracts were prepared using polar solvents (i.e., water and 70% ethanol) and their antimicrobial activity as well as in vivo toxicity was investigated. Their antibacterial activity was investigated against gram positive (Bacillus subtilis) and gram negative (Escherichia coli DH5α, and Salmonella typhi) bacteria at different time points. All the extracts showed the highest antibacterial activity after 2 hours of incubation. The aqueous seed extract showed the maximum zone of inhibition (i.e., ~13 mm) against Bacillus subtilis with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) value of 2 μg/μl. The an-tibacterial propensity was also confirmed through trypan blue dye exclusion assay, CellToxTM Green assay, and lipid peroxidation (LPO) assay. On the other hand, the etha-nolic seed extract demonstrated higher antifungal activity through inhibition of mycelial growth. All the extracts showed excellent hemocompatibility against both human and rat red blood cells (RBCs). They also did not show any toxicity to rat liver and kidneys. Taken together, this study demonstrates that the aqueous and ethanolic extracts of D. malabarica seed and flesh could be an effective source of natural antimicrobial agents with no cytotox-ic activity.
Highlights
Medicinal plants are the rich source of therapeutically important compounds that provide them with the ability to show different bioactive properties [1]
Many plants or plant-derived products having antimicrobial properties can effectively provide a wide range of protection against pathogenic bacteria or fungi as well as can be an effective alternative to the chemically synthesized antibiotics or fungicides [3, 4, 7, 8]
The present study focused on the investigation of antimicrobial activity as well as in vivo biocompatibility of different parts of D. malabarica fruit
Summary
Medicinal plants are the rich source of therapeutically important compounds that provide them with the ability to show different bioactive properties [1]. In the modern medical treatment, huge consumption of chemically synthesized antibiotics is preventing the infectious diseases and paving the way to generate antibiotic resistant bacteria that is one of the biggest threats to global health, agriculture, food security, and development [3]. Different commercially available chemically synthesized fungicides are effective for fungal growth inhibition. They are highly toxic to human health as well as hazardous for the environment [10]. Many plants or plant-derived products having antimicrobial properties can effectively provide a wide range of protection against pathogenic bacteria or fungi as well as can be an effective alternative to the chemically synthesized antibiotics or fungicides [3, 4, 7, 8]
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