Antibacterial effect of methanolic extract of marine sponge Haliclona implexa from Oman Sea against two strains of food pathogenic bacteria (Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa)

To fight food pathogenic microorganisms, it is necessary to search for new antimicrobial compounds. Marine sponges are potential sources of new antimicrobial agents due to secondary metabolites. This study investigated the antibacterial effect of methanolic extract of H. implexa sea sponge collected from Chabahar.

This study investigated at two concentrations of 3 and 5 mg/ml of the methanolic extract against two foodstuffs bacteria of Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa by disc diffusion sensitivity test, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC). Statistical analysis was done with One-Way Analysis of Variance and comparison of means with Tukey's test.

According to the results, the highest effects were obtained on concentrations of 5 mg/ml with 11.03±1.7 and 12.033±0.702 mm diameters of non-growth halos for Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, respectively, and showed significant difference by Gentamycin (p<0.05). The minimum inhibitory concentration of H. impelxa sponge organic extract in Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa was observed at 1 and 3 mg/ml concentration, respectively. Minimum bactericidal concentration observed in Escherichia coli at 3 mg/ml concentration and no effect on Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain observed.  

 Based on the results, H. impelxa sea sponge extract has a good antibacterial effect on pathogenic bacteria of Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Therefore, the extract of this sponge can be further studied for use in food packaging.