Sibi G, Kalpana Kaushik, K. Dhananjaya, K. R. Ravikumar and H. Mallesha
Sechium edule (Cucurbitaceae) commonly called as chayote is commonly eaten for its fruits, young leaves, shoots, stems and tuberous roots around the world. In the present study, various solvent extracts of S. edule fruits (pulp and seed) were tested against the food borne bacteria. Phytochemical analysis of the fruit extracts were done and revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins and terpenoids. Among the various extracts tested, chloroform and methanolic extracts exhibited antibacterial activity against most of the Gram negative bacteria tested (Escherichia coli ATCC 8739, Salmonella typhimurium ATCC 3224 and Shigella flexneri ATCC 12022). None of the extracts were able to control the growth of Gram positive bacteria throughout the study. E.coli ATCC 8739 was the most sensitive organism to both chloroform extract of pulp and seed (16.7 and 12.6 mm) followed by S. typhi (9.0 and 14.4 mm) and S. flexneri ATCC 12022 (10.3 and 6.7 mm). A significant activity against E. coli ATCC 8739 (19.3 mm) was exhibited by methanolic pulp extract.
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