Abstract:
Chitosan and banana peel ethanolic extract have been established to exhibit antimicrobial activities on their own. With the advent of drug-resistant pathogens, new substances to combat infectious microorganisms and improve antimicrobial treatments are always needed. The antimicrobial activity of chitosan and ethanol extract mixture of saba (Musa acuminata x balbisiana) peels was evaluated by determining their Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) that inhibits the visible growth of microorganism subsequently utilized for obtaining Minimum Bactericidal/Fungicidal Concentration (MBC/MFC), with the focus on the latter, as this concentration determines the death of microorganisms. The combination of chitosan and saba peel ethanolic extract exhibited antimicrobial effects against Bacillus subtilis (BIOTECH 1573) and Escherichia coli (BIOTECH 1634) but only the assumed combination of the MFC of chitosan, 0.0703 g/100mL, and the saba peel ethanolic extract, 0.0156 g/100mL, had enhanced significant antifungal activity against Candida albicans (UPCC 2129) compared to the treatments of chitosan and saba peel ethanolic extract alone. In this study, metabolites of saba peel ethanolic extract detected were carbohydrates, alkaloids, glycosides, sterols and triterpenoids. Results obtained in this study may have been due to a suggested synergistic effect of chitosan and the phytochemicals from saba ethanolic extract. This study showed that the antimicrobial activity of chitosan and saba peel extract has more potential when they are combined than when they are applied as separate treatments. It is recommended that more molecular and biochemical tests be carried out in order to gain further information on the chemical composition of the saba ethanolic extract and chitosan and, extensively evaluate the antimicrobial action and interaction of saba peelings and chitosan against microorganisms and with each other.
