Clariza Nicole T. Balmes | Nikko B. Barrameda | Jasper Ian C. Cagampang | Fernando Miguel 0. Gamboa | Michaela Jyra B. Melo | Stephanie Kyrha R. Polanes | James Harlan T. Santos | Avery Caroleen P. Valencia | Eric N. Awi
Philippines possesses a rich source of banana plants enough to provide us with its many uses. The banana peels have been used for their property of producing a substantial amount of ethanol; however, their efficacies against Staphylococcus aureus have not been studied. The present investigation involved the study of antimicrobial activity of ethanol from banana (Musa acuminate) peels against S. aureus. In the present study, banana peel waste were subjected into two phases – ethanol production and anti-microbial susceptibility testing. In producing ethanol, Musa acuminate peels were gathered and underwent pre-treatment before going through fermentation. Two samples were conditioned at a temperature of 30 °C and the pH value was set to 5.0–5.5. The samples underwent fermentation process for seven days and three days, respectively, by the culture of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The ethanol product from the banana peels was distillated using a distillation apparatus and two samples of 10mL and 8mL ethanol were extracted. The ethanol extract of Musa acuminate was investigated for antimicrobial activity at 100 μg/ml concentrations by using disc diffusion method against gram positive Staphylococcus aureus. After the 24- hour incubation, the zone of inhibition was compared with standard antibiotics ciproflaxin (100 μg/ mL) for comparing the results obtained with. Against the first sample of ethanol extract, Staphylococcus aureus showed a higher inhibition zone of 9 mm, whereas for the second sample, Staphylococcus aureus showed a lesser inhibition zone of about 5 mm. It was then observed that ethanol extract of Musa acuminate was potent against the S. aureus bacteria.