Thermal treatment increases the antimicrobial activity of tepejilote rachis against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus.

Abstract

We investigate the potential of Chamaedorea tepejilote Liebm (tepejilote rachis) as an antimicrobial agent against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains and how thermal treatment affects its antimicrobial activity. The results showed that the thermal treatment before obtaining the extracts reduced the proliferation of microorganisms. For Staphyloccoccus aureus, it was observed that hydrothermal treatment before obtaining the aqueous extracts reduced the proliferation of microorganisms, while for the hexane extracts, an increase in antimicrobial activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus was obtained in the samples subjected to microwave treatment before the extraction process. A 50% reduction in the MIC against Pseudomonas aeruginosa was achieved with tepejilote rachis treated in the microwave prior to extraction (0.18 mg/mL versus 0.36 mg/mL). The thermal treatments resulted in a higher leakage of intracellular material in the four strains tested, and an increase in cell membrane permeability was also observed in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.