Phenolic compounds and antibacterial activity of Viburnum opulus fruit juices and extracts

Abstract

The use of plant extracts and other alternative forms of medical treatments is expected to provide an excellent alternative to antibiotics. In particular, Viburnum opulus fruits are noteworthy because of large amounts of biologically active substances, such as polyphenols, anthocyanins, carotenoids etc. [Česonienė et al., 2010]. The antibacterial activities of the V. opulus fruit juices and ethanol extracts were tested against foodborne and clinical bacteria. The antimicrobial properties of the fruit juices and extracts were evaluated using the agar well diffusion method. The evaluation of the sensitivities of the different bacterial strains to the fruit ethanol extracts revealed that S. agona, S. typhimurium, and L. monocytogenes were the most sensitive, with average inhibition zones of 23.6 mm, 20.7 mm, and 19.1 mm, respectively. S. epidermidis and M. luteus demonstrated the highest resistance; their inhibition zones were minimal, at 14.2 mm and 15.0 mm, respectively. The highest antimicrobial activities were observed against S. typhimurium, S. agona, and L. monocytogenes (with inhibition zones of 27.9 mm, 26.3 mm, and 26.5 mm, respectively). M. luteus and S. epidermidis displayed the greatest resistance, with average inhibition zones of 16.2 mm and 16.6 mm, respectively. These results corroborated that fruit juices more effectively inhibited the growth of the Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria than ethanol extracts. The conclusion of this study is that V. opulus fruits are potential antibacterial remedies.