ISSN: 2577-4360
Authors: Anju TR*, Gopal N and Parvathy S
Pepper (Piper nigrum) and green chilli (Capsicum annum var glabriusculum) are routinely used in Indian culinary as flavouring agents. Even though the use of green chilli is more prominent in dishes, pepper has been traditionally used as an important spice in Kerala since decades. In addition, Pepper is an inevitable component in many home made decoctions using herbals for upper respiratory tract infections. Keeping this in mind, the present study is designed to investigate the antimicrobial potential of these two spices to evaluate whether the use of pepper can impart any selective advantage over green chilli. To study the antimicrobial potential of Piper nigrum and Capsicum annum var glabriusculum, we selected Staphylococcus aureus, a commensal of the human microbiota which can act as an opportunistic pathogen. Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from soil microfauna by serial dilution and plating techniques. Strain identification was done by various biochemical and morphological tests and strain confirmation was done by 16SrRNA genome sequencing. Pure cultures of Staphylococcus aureus were maintained by subculturing and used for studying the antimicrobial effects of Piper nigrum and Capsicum annum var glabriusculum using disk diffusion method. Both Piper nigrum and Capsicum annum var glabriusculum showed a clear zone of inhibition around the disk in four separate experiments with a mean value of 2.05 cm and 1.70 cm respectively. The comparative analysis of the inhibition zone by statistical software Graphpad Instat showed a significantly higher (p= 0.02) inhibition zone in Piper nigrum than Capsicum annum var glabriusculum. This points to the selective advantage of pepper components over green chilli in controlling Staphylococcus aureus, thus scientifically validating the health benefits of pepper over chilli. Since maintaining the probiotics is also important, identifying the entire microbial fauna affected by these extracts are important to suggest a better spice for food, which is the future prospect for research in this direction.
Keywords: Piper Nigrum; Capsicum Annum Var Glabriusculum; Disk Diffusion
