Vol. 11, Special Issue 7 (2022)

Author(s):
K Deepa, P Priyadharshini, M Tilak, R Shanmugam and G Gurumeenakshi

Abstract:
The present study was carried out to characterize the mulberry fruit yielding varieties (G4, MR2, G2 and S36) by its morphological characters and analyze antibacterial activity of fruit extracts of G4 and MR2. Among the morphological characters, fruit colour ranged from purple, deep purple, red and dark red. Similarly, fruit weight ranged from 0.5 to 1.52g in which G4 recorded highest fruit weight of 1.52 g followed by MR2 (1.10g), G2 (0.713 g) and S36 (0.5g). Based on the availability of the fruit quantum G4 and MR2 was selected for antibacterial activity against the human bacterial pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus ATCC11632, Streptococcus pneumonia ATCC6301 and Staphylococcus epidermidis ATCC12228. Among the different concentrations (20, 40, 60, 80, 100 µl) of mulberry fruit extracts, 100 µl exhibited highest zone of inhibition of 17.0±1.25 to 20.0±0.81 mm which showed antibacterial response against bacterial pathogens. G4 fruit extract showed highest antibacterial activity against S. aureus with inhibition of 19.0±0.49 mm. Similarly, MR2 fruit extract showed highest antibacterial activity against S. epidermidis with inhibition of 20.0±0.73 mm. The present findings indicated that mulberry fruit extracts have medicinal choice for the development of alternative antimicrobial drug without any side effects as seen in chemical drugs.