ANTIBACTERIAL CHARACTERISTICS AND BACTERIA COMPOSITION OF PINEAPPLE (Ananas comosus [Linn.] Merr.) PEEL AND PULP

Özet

Pineapple (Ananas comosus [Linn.] Merr.) is a crop with huge economic potentials. In Nigeria, the plant is cultivated in diverse environment and common among fruit vendors. This study is aimed to collect different morphotypes of A. comosus from public market to assess the bacterial composition and antibacterial properties using standard procedures. Bacterial colonies obtained from the peel and pulp were in the range of 1.19 × 104 to 9.10 × 104 CFU/mL. Higher counts were obtained from the peel than the pulp. More so, results implicated the presence of gram-positive bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus faecalis, Bacillus species and Clostridium species on pineapple peels and pulps, which may cause contamination of the fruit, health risks to consumers or handlers of the fruits and barks as well as changes during storage and decreased marketability. Greater varieties of bacteria were also recorded from the peel than the pulp. When antibacterial properties were assessed, no zone of inhibition of pineapple juice extracted from the peel was obtained against susceptible clinical isolates (Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus faecalis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) using alcohol extract. On the other hand, zone of inhibition in the range of 13 -16 mm were obtained from pineapple bark. The results of minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration suggests that pineapple bark extract had significant inhibitory and bactericidal effects on the isolates. These suggest the need for health-related ministries, departments and sectors to develop a protocol to monitor and ensure that street vended fruits and foods are fit for consumption and free from pathogens, which may potentially give rise to public health challenges. The antibacterial properties highlighted in this study may also be further explored for manufacturing antimicrobial drugs and products.