Antibacterial Activity of Korean Fig (Ficus carica L.) against Food Poisoning Bacteria

Abstract

The antibacterial activities of methanol extract and systematic solvent fractions( -hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and butanol) from Korean common type figs at different ripening stages were tested by the broth dilution method against 8 representative food-poisoning bacteria- : L. monocytogenes, S. aureus, S. enteritidis, E. coli O157:H7, E. coli, Y. enterocolitica, V. parahaemolyticus, and S. typhimurium. The methanol extracts of unripened I and II showed stronger activity than that of the ripened figs especially against L. monocytogenes, S. enteritidis, E. coli O157:H7, Y. parahaemolyticus and S. typhimurium in 10 mg/mL. The systematic solvent fractions showed stronger antibacterial activities than the methanol extract, even al the lower concentrations. The hexane fraction of ripened figs showed higher growth inhibition than those of unripened I and II against L. monocytogenes, E. coli O157:H7, Y. enterocolitica and V. parahaemolyticus. The chloroform fraction showed strong antibacterial activity in all ripening stages against E. coli O157:H7 and V. parahaemolyticus. The butanol fraction showed better inhibition activity in unripened I and II than in the ripened figs. The hexane and chloroform fractions showed inhibition activity of more than against E. coli O157:H7, V. parahaemolyticus in 0.5 mg/mL. Each fraction showed a little different antibacterial activity according to the ripening stages of the fruits and the tested strains. Especially, figs in the unripened II stage revealed superior activity relatively and the hexane and chloroform fractions revealed the strongest activity, followed by the butanol fraction, while the ethylacetate and water fractions hardly showed any activity.