Antibacterial activity of Myrciaria dubia (Camu camu) against Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sanguinis

• Main Authors: Rosella Camere-Colarossi, Gabriela Ulloa-Urizar, Dyanne Medina-Flores, Stefany Caballero-García, Frank Mayta-Tovalino, Juana del Valle-Mendoza
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2016-09-01
• Series: Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine
• Subjects: Antibacterial effect; Medicinal plants; Myrciaria dubia; Cytotoxicity
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2221169116302635

Objective: To evaluate the antibacterial and cytotoxic effect of Myrciaria dubia (Camu camu) (M. dubia) methanol extract, against Streptococcus mutans (ATCC 25175) (S. mutans) and Streptococcus sanguinis (ATCC 10556) (S. sanguinis). Methods: Two methanol extracts of M. dubia were prepared in vitro, from the seeds and pulp. Ten independent tests were prepared for each type of extract, using 0.12% chlorhexidine solution as positive control. Agar diffusion test was used by preparing wells with the experimental solutions cultivated in anaerobic conditions for 48 h at 37 °C. Meanwhile, the minimum inhibitory concentration and the cytotoxic effect over MDCK cell line was found. Results: A higher antibacterial effect was observed with the methanol seed extract with an inhibitory halo of (21.36 ± 6.35) mm and (19.21 ± 5.18) mm against S. mutans and S. sanguinis, respectively. The methanol extract of the pulp had an effect of (16.20 ± 2.08) mm and (19.34 ± 2.90) mm, respectively. The minimum inhibitory concentration of the pulp extract was 62.5 μg/mL for both strains, whereas for the seed antibacterial activity was observed even at low concentrations. The CC50 of the seeds extract was at a higher concentration than 800 μg/mL and 524.37 μg/mL for the pulp extract. Conclusions: The experimental findings demonstrated the antibacterial effect of the methanol extract of M. dubia against S. mutans and S. sanguinis. These extracts were not cytotoxic at high concentrations.