Antibacterial effect of sprouts against human pathogens in vitro

Abstract

Sprouts contain minerals, vitamins, and other compounds, which may have antimicrobial activity. Antimicrobial compounds are released from homogenized sprouts and diffuse into the culture medium inhibiting the growth of pathogenic bacteria. These antibacterial compounds may influence the multiplication of contaminating pathogens. In this study the antimicrobial effects of 55 different homogenized sprouts were investigated with agar well diffusion method on human pathogenic bacteria. Homogenizates of different radish, early kohlrabi, and red cabbage sprouts caused inhibitory zone around the wells on the surface of inoculated agar plates. Mustard, zucchini, medical (German) chamomile, spicy fenugreek, and adzuki bean sprouts had antimicrobial effect only against a few human pathogenic bacteria. Twenty-nine other spicy and vegetable sprouts had no antibacterial activity against the investigated human pathogens. The results suggest that a few sprouts have antimicrobial properties, but different cultivars of the same species have different effects against different bacterial strains. The sprouts of radish cultivars contained the most effective antibacterial compounds.