190
R. Baishya and S. Banerjee
1 Introduction
Biofilm is defined as community of cells irreversibly attached to any surface enclosed
in a complex exopolymeric substance (EPS). Extracellular polymeric substances
(EPS) produced by microorganisms are a complex mixture of biopolymers primarily
consisting of polysaccharides, as well as proteins, nucleic acids, and lipids. EPS make
up the intercellular space of microbial aggregates and form the structure and architecture of the biofilm matrix. The key functions of EPS comprise the mediation of the
initial attachment of cells to different substrata and protection against environmental
stress and dehydration (Vu 2009). Biofilm possess various problems in medicinal
devices, food industry, water pipes, etc. as the biofilm-producing bacteria becomes
resistant to antimicrobial agents due to prolonged use of antibiotics (Flemming and
Wingender 2010). Hence, the development of environmentally friendly anti-biofilm
molecules has gained major interest among researchers as an alternative approach
for biofilm treatments.
Plant-based compounds have gained widespread interest in health care industry
due to the unlimited ability to synthesize bioactive compounds as secondary metabolites with various pharmacological properties and its ability to boost the immune
system. The present work focuses on the search of using plant products for biofilm
inhibition from commonly known medicinal plants.
2 Materials and Methods
2.1 Materials and Bacterial Strains
All the chemicals used for the experiments were purchased from Himedia, India.
The bacterial stains were collected from IPGMER, Kolkata and RGKAR Medical
College and Hospital, Kolkata.
2.2 Preparation of Medicinal Plant Extracts
The plants Allium sativum (garlic), Curcuma longa (haldi), Ocimum sanctum (tulsi),
Zingiber officinale (ginger), and Azadirachta indica (neem) were collected from
college premise or purchased from the local market. The plant was identified from
the Department of Botany, University of Calcutta, India. The matured leaves and
fresh rhizomes were dried at room temperature and were powdered using a grinder
to coarse powder, packed into Soxhlet column, and then extracted with 70% ethanol
for 24 hours (h). The extracts were then filtered with WhatMan No. 1 filter paper
R. Baishya and S. Banerjee
1 Introduction
Biofilm is defined as community of cells irreversibly attached to any surface enclosed
in a complex exopolymeric substance (EPS). Extracellular polymeric substances
(EPS) produced by microorganisms are a complex mixture of biopolymers primarily
consisting of polysaccharides, as well as proteins, nucleic acids, and lipids. EPS make
up the intercellular space of microbial aggregates and form the structure and architecture of the biofilm matrix. The key functions of EPS comprise the mediation of the
initial attachment of cells to different substrata and protection against environmental
stress and dehydration (Vu 2009). Biofilm possess various problems in medicinal
devices, food industry, water pipes, etc. as the biofilm-producing bacteria becomes
resistant to antimicrobial agents due to prolonged use of antibiotics (Flemming and
Wingender 2010). Hence, the development of environmentally friendly anti-biofilm
molecules has gained major interest among researchers as an alternative approach
for biofilm treatments.
Plant-based compounds have gained widespread interest in health care industry
due to the unlimited ability to synthesize bioactive compounds as secondary metabolites with various pharmacological properties and its ability to boost the immune
system. The present work focuses on the search of using plant products for biofilm
inhibition from commonly known medicinal plants.
2 Materials and Methods
2.1 Materials and Bacterial Strains
All the chemicals used for the experiments were purchased from Himedia, India.
The bacterial stains were collected from IPGMER, Kolkata and RGKAR Medical
College and Hospital, Kolkata.
2.2 Preparation of Medicinal Plant Extracts
The plants Allium sativum (garlic), Curcuma longa (haldi), Ocimum sanctum (tulsi),
Zingiber officinale (ginger), and Azadirachta indica (neem) were collected from
college premise or purchased from the local market. The plant was identified from
the Department of Botany, University of Calcutta, India. The matured leaves and
fresh rhizomes were dried at room temperature and were powdered using a grinder
to coarse powder, packed into Soxhlet column, and then extracted with 70% ethanol
for 24 hours (h). The extracts were then filtered with WhatMan No. 1 filter paper