Abstract

ASPERGILLUS NIGER MEDIATED SOLID STATE FERMENTATION (SSF) OF POMEGRANATE PEELS, YIELDS BIOACTIVE PRODUCT HAVING ANTIBACTERIAL, ANTIOXIDANT, RADICAL SCAVENGING AND ANTI-UV PROPERTIES

Harshada Satish Dipnaik Priyanka Shrivastava Salgo Merin Jacob*

Abstract

Pomegranates contain several bioactives, majorly phenolic compounds, which have been reported to have numerous health benefits. Several industries require anti-oxidant, anti-UV and anti-microbial activities in their products which are obtained by incorporating various chemicals. With a view to assess these applications Punica granatum L. (pomegranate) peels were evaluated. Methods: The pomegranate peels were subjected to Solid State Fermentation (SSF) using Aspergillus niger. The bioactives were extracted using methanol as a solvent. Extracts were analysed for phytochemicals, antimicrobial activity (agar-cup method and AATCC 100-2004 method for fabric), Total Phenolic Content (Folin-ciocalteau method), antioxidant potential activity (Ferric-ion-Reducing-Antioxidant-Potential), superoxidescavenging (alkaline DMSO method) and anti-UV activity. Bioactive Compounds were characterized using UV spectrophotometer and FTIR. Result: Phytochemical analysis and characterization revealed that the compounds of interest are aromatic and phenolic in nature. The methanolic extract showed antibacterial activity against S.aureus, P.aeruginosa and B.subtilis. An 86.10% and 92.60% reduction of S.aureus and K.pneumoniae count was observed on treated fabric respectively. On exposure to UV the extract protected E.coli upto 40 seconds of exposure to UV. The total phenolics were 59.73 ± 0.46 mg gallic acid equivalence gm-1 pomegranate peels, whereas an average antioxidant potential was 0.18 ± 0.018 mg ascorbic acid equivalence gm-1 of pomegranate peel. A 65% superoxide scavenging activity was observed at 0.5 mg/ml of peel extract. The correlation coefficient for anti-oxidant potential and phenolic content was R2 = 0.928. Conclusion: Results indicated significant contribution of isolated phenolic compounds to antibacterial, anti-UV, antioxidant and radical scavenging activity of the Punica granatum L.

Keywords: Punica granatum, SSF, TPC, FRAP, antimicrobial, anti-UV.