Investigation of antimicrobial properties of different fruits

Abstract

Fruits are a source of natural compounds that could be widely used for different purposes due to their antimicrobial and antioxidative properties. The food industry needs organic raw that is stable to various industrial processes and prolong the shelf-life of food products. Fruits of European cranberry (Vaccinium oxycoccos), highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum), and snowball tree (Viburnum opulus) are much appreciated in folk medicine also because of large amounts of biologically active substances. Different cultivars of European cranberry, highbush blueberry, and snowball tree were selected for investigations of antimicrobial properties. The antimicrobial activity of fruit ethanol extracts were determined by the agar well diffusion method. Determination of the antibacterial properties showed that fruit extracts inhibited the growth of wide range of human pathogenic bacteria, both gram positive and gram-negative. Investigation of the antimicrobial properties showed that V. oxycoccos extracts inhibited the growth of wide range of human pathogenic bacteria, both gram-negative (Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium) and gram-positive (Enterococcus faecalis, Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, and Bacillus subtilis). Examination of V. corymbosum fruit ethanol extracts by the diffusion to agar method showed that among gram-negative test cultures Citrobacter freundii was the most sensitive. The most effective antibacterial activity was exhibited by the Viburnum opulus fruit extracts against Salmonella typhimurium, Salmonella agona, and Lysteria monocytogenes. Staphylococcus epidermidis and Micrococcus luteus displayed the highest resistance. In contrast, the growth of the yeast cultures exhibited little or no sensitivity to the fruit ethanol extracts of all species investigated. Our study indicates that fruits of V. oxycoccos, V. corymbosum, and Viburnum opulus may act as antimicrobials which control a wide range of pathogens.