The Antimicrobial Efficacy of <em>Elaeis guineensis</em>: Characterization, <em>in Vitro</em> and <em>in Vivo</em> Studies

• Main Authors: Sreenivasan Sasidharan, Jagat R. Kanwar, Lachimanan Yoga Latha, Zuraini Zakaria, Yeng Chen, Soundararajan Vijayarathna
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2012-04-01
• Series: Molecules
• Subjects: antimicrobial activity; <em>Candida albicans</em> <em>Elaeis guineensis</em> <em> </em>scanning electron microscopy; transmission electron microscopy
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/17/5/4860

The urgent need to treat multi-drug resistant pathogenic microorganisms in chronically infected patients has given rise to the development of new antimicrobials from natural resources. We have tested <em>Elaeis guineensis </em>Jacq<em> </em>(Arecaceae) methanol extract against a variety of bacterial, fungal and yeast strains associated with infections. Our studies have demonstrated that <em>E. guineensis</em> exhibits excellent antimicrobial activity <em>in vitro</em> and <em>in vivo</em> against the bacterial and fungal strains tested. A marked inhibitory effect of the <em>E. guineensis</em> extracts was observed against <em>C. albicans</em> whereby <em>E. guineensis</em> extract at ½, 1, or 2 times the MIC significantly inhibited <em>C. albicans</em> growth with a noticeable drop in optical density (OD) of the bacterial culture. This finding confirmed the anticandidal activity of the extract on <em>C. albicans</em>. Imaging using scanning (SEM) and transmission (TEM) electron microscopy was done to determine the major alterations in the microstructure of the extract-treated <em>C. albicans</em>. The main abnormalities noted via SEM and TEM studies were the alteration in morphology of the yeast cells. <em>In vivo</em> antimicrobial activity was studies in mice that had been inoculated with <em>C. albicans</em> and exhibited good anticandidal activity. The authors conclude that the extract may be used as a candidate for the development of anticandidal agent.<em> </em>