Anti-quorum sensing activity of phenolic extract from Eugenia brasiliensis (Brazilian cherry)

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the anti-quorum sensing activity of phenolic extracts from grumixama (Eugenia brasiliensis), also known as Brazilian cherry, in concentrations that did not interfere with bacterial growth. The pulp phenolic compounds were extracted by using solid phage extraction in a mini-collumn C18 and quantified by spectrophotometry. The anti-quorum sensing activity was evaluated by testing the inhibition of violacein production in Chromobacterium violaceum and by evaluating the swarming motility in Aeromonas hydrophila and Serratia marcescens, both phenotypes regulated by quorum sensing. The phenolic extract strongly inhibited the production of violacein in C. violaceum, reducing its production in comparison with a control with no extract. No inhibition of growth was observed at the concentrations tested for quorum sensing inhibition. Confirming the quorum sensing inhibition phenotype, the extract was also able to inhibit swarming motility in S. marcescens and in A. hydrophila, although in the later the effect was marginal. Dverall, these results indicate that phenolic extract from E. brasiliensis presents quorum sensing inhibitory activity most likely due to the presence of fruit phenolics which have been implicated as quorum sensing inhibitors in Gram negative bacteria.Keywords: quorum sensing; anti-quorum sensing; phenolic extract; Brazilian cherry; Eugenia brasiliensis. Practical Application:The phenolic extract in this study presents potential applications in the food and pharmaceutical industries due to inhibition of phenotypes regulated by quorum sensing, which include production of virulence factors and spoilage enzymes. By inhibiting phenotypes associated with quorum sensing, the extract presents potential application as a natural preservative for food conservation and as an alternative or an adjuvant with antibiotics.

Quorum Quenching and Microbial Control through Phenolic Extract of Eugenia Uniflora Fruits

“…In fact, Oliveira and others () studied the inhibitory effect of a phenolic extract prepared from R. rosaefolius with inhibition closely resembling that of this work. We have also found similar findings with phenolics obtained from another fruit from the generum Eugenia (Rodrigues and others ). These results indicate that pitanga fruits contain phenolic compounds with great inhibitory potential against quorum sensing.…”

“…In the last few years, plants have been actively investigated by the scientific community due to the presence of many natural compounds with antimicrobial potential and lately for their ability to inhibit quorum sensing (Vattem and others ; Kalia ; Oliveira and others ). Some studies have evaluated a variety of medicinal plants and foods including garlic, vanilla, basil, thyme, ginger and some berries such as blueberry, wild strawberry and grapes against bacterial communication (Vattem and others ; Adonizio and others ; Kalia ; Oliveira and others ; Rodrigues and others ). In many cases, the antiquorum sensing activity has been correlated with the presence of phenolic compounds.…”

Effect of Capsicum Frutescens Extract, Capsaicin, and Luteolin on Quorum Sensing Regulated Phenotypes

“…These results show that PMME affect the QS system in C. violaceum ATCC 12472 and C. violaceum CV026, since these strains have reduced violacein production. Similar results for violacein inhibition have been observed with fruit extracts (Oliveira, Rodrigues, Bertoldi, Taylor, & Pinto, ; Rodrigues, Oliveira et al., ; Rodrigues, Zola et al., ; Truchado et al., ; Vattem et al., ), medicinal plants (Rekha, Vasavi, Vipin, Saptami, & Arun, ; Vandeputte et al., ), and spices (Alvarez et al., ; Choo, Rukayadi, & Hwang, ).…”

“…Plants are sources of secondary metabolites with potential to interfere in bacterial cell–cell communication (Quecán, Rivera, & Pinto, ). Many studies have evaluated the potential of plant‐rich phenolic extracts to inhibit QS (Alvarez et al., ; Corral‐Lugo, Daddaoua, Ortega, Espinosa‐Urgel, & Krell, ; Jakobsen et al., ; Rasmussen et al., ; Truchado et al., ; Vattem, Mihalik, Crixell, & McLean, ; 2016a; Rodrigues, Oliveira et al., ; Rodrigues, Zola et al., ). Despite the numerous works investigating QS interference, no detailed study on the effect of Capsicum peppers and their major compounds on QS has been reported.…”

Anti-Candida and anti-quorum sensing activity of airborne microorganisms detected by a rapid method

“…Bacteria coordinate gene expression as a function of cell density in a communication mechanism named quorum sensing (QS) 6 . Therefore, bacteria are capable of performing tasks as a group, including migration to more favorable environments, biofilm formation, virulence gene expression, bacteriocin and antibiotic production, bioluminescence, and pigment production, among others 6,7 . Considering the importance of QS, the search for inhibitors against this mechanism has become a research target 8 .…”