Antimicrobial screening of some fruits found in the Philippines on selected microorganisms

• Main Authors: Dumlao, Cecille G., La'O, Raymond A., Pascual, Angelie P.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2008
• Subjects: Fruit > Microbiology; Biology
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/7792
• Institution: De La Salle University

Fifteen different fruits commonly cultivated and/or available in different parts of the Philippines were utilized in the study. These include Atis (Anonas squamosa L.), Avocado (Persea Americana L.), Banana (Musa sapientum Linn. Var. Lakatan), Chico (Achras sapota L.), Dalandan (Citrus aurantium L.), Dragon Fruit (Hylocereus undatus L.), Guyabano (Annona muricata L.), Kamias (Avverhoa bilimbi L.), Lanzones (Lansium domesticum L.), Longan (Dimocarpus longan L.), Melon (Benincasa hispida L.), Pineapple (Anonas comosus L.), Pomelo (Citrus grandis L.), Rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum L.), and Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus L.). One to two fruits were purchased every week from leading supermarkets around Metro Manila for a period of five months from August, 2007 to December, 2007. Fruit extracts were prepared using the following solvents: acetone, ethanol, ether, methanol, and sterile distilled water. The filter paper-disc agar diffusion method was performed to determine their antimicrobial property on the following test microorganisms: Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus Gram- negative bacteria Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa and a fungus, Candida albicans. The results of the study revealed that the fruit extracts of Avocado, Chico, and Kamias inhibited the growth of all the test microorganisms. Fruit extracts of Banana, Dalandan, and Rambutan inhibited three of the four test microorganisms while Atis, Lanzones, Pineapple, and Pomelo inhibited only two. On the other hand, the fruit extracts of Dragon Fruit, Guyabano, Melon, Longan, and Watermelon did not exhibit any zones of inhibition on all test microorganisms. Furthermore, the peel extracts of all fruits exhibited the most number of zones of inhibition on the test microorganisms than the flesh extracts. The results of the study also revealed that among the extracting solvents used, acetone exhibited the most number of zones of inhibition on all the test microorganisms. The results of this study suggest, and further confirmed the presence of a