Study on efficacy of moringa stenopetala seed oil extract for antimicrobial activities on textile materials

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study was to evaluate the extract of Moringa stenopetala seed oil, by organic solvents (methanol and hexane), for its efficacy against microbial activity on cotton fabrics. The selected microbes for the study were two types of bacteria which are Gram-positive (S. aureus) and Gram-negative (E. coli). Design/methodology/approach Two types of bacteria, Gram-positive (S. aureus) and Gram-negative (E. coli) were used. The extract was applied on fabrics at a concentration of 5, 10 and 15 g/L using the pad-dry-cure method and antibacterial activities verified by the bacterial-growth reduction method. The treated fabrics were evaluated for antimicrobial activity against the bacteria before and after 15 washing cycles. The extract was examined for molecular structural change using fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and physical properties of the fabric; tensile strength, elongation, air permeability, stiffness and wettability were evaluated. Findings Results showed treated fabrics reduces the growth of Gram-positive (S. aureus) and Gram-negative (E. coli) bacteria from 77.6%–100% before wash and 45.8%–85.2% after wash for both extract concentrations. Comparing extracts, hexane extract reduces all bacteria growth than methanol extract for both extract concentrations while S. aureus was more susceptible to antimicrobial agents than E. coli at a lower concentration. As result, the tensile strength and air permeability were relatively lower than untreated ones without affecting the comfort properties of the fabric. Originality/value This study indicates that the Moringa stenopetala seed oil extract has a strong antimicrobial activity.

Citric Acid Cross-Linking of Chitosan Encapsulated Spearmint Oil for Antibacterial Cellulosic Fabric

“…This could be attributed to stiffness caused by the chitosan sizing effect which reduced its resilience to bend. Similar results had also been reported in the literature where the cotton fabric treated with Moringa oleifera oil containing finish attached through citric acid crosslinking [ 31 ]. A decrease in tensile strength may also be attributed to the crosslinking of cotton fabric, as it increases the rigidity of cellulose molecules thus reducing the mobility of cellulosic chains.…”

“…6c). A similar finding had been reported on coating the cotton fabric chitosan which increased the stiffness of treated fabric [ 30 , 31 ]. Our results are also in close agreement with earlier findings that on treating the cotton fabric with chitosan nano-assemblies encapsulating α-tocopherol, there observed increased bending length making the treated fabric slightly stiffer [ 14 ].…”