Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of various concentrations of Jatropha curcas plant extracts against S. Enteritidis in a broth system.
Methods: The efficacy of various concentrations of J. curcas (10, 12.5, 25, 50, 60 and 100 mg/mL) against the survival of S. Enteritidis was determined. Plants were separated into stem, leaf, and root parts, and freeze-dried. Extracts were prepared by soaking 5 g of the ground plant material in 50 ml of methanol or water. The antimicrobial activity of the extracts were determined by observing growth S. Enteritidis in media supplemented with extracts in a Bioscreen C Microbiology Analyzer for 24 hr 35°C at 600 nm. The control consisted of S. Enteritidis without the presence of any extract.
Results: The results of the Bioscreen analysis indicate that J. curcas does have some antimicrobial abilities against S. Enteritidis. ANOVA analysis revealed a significant difference between the methanol and water based stem and root extracts at each of the various concentrations (p < 0.05). According to Fishers LSD test, only leaf/water extract at 50 mg/ml was significantly different (p < 0.05) from all other leaf extracts (water and methanol). Observed optical density values (average = 0.507) demonstrated that the various concentrations of extracts were lower than that of the control (1.229).
Significance: The ability of J. curcas to inhibit the growth of Salmonella Enteritidis indicates that these extracts could be used during post-harvest cleaning and sanitizing operations by incorporating the use of this plant derived antimicrobial as a sanitizer.