The anti-bacterial effects of Plants

Ethanol is a dangerous liquid which is highly flammable. To reduce the risk we need to take care and not to put it near gas/ fire etc.

If the petri dishes are taped to tightly then pathogenic bacteria (bacteria which cause illnesses) could be growing. To stop this we should only tape the sides to allow air in.

We should wash our hands after the experiment in case we have picked up any harmful bacteria.

Research

Chilli

Chiili has been prescribed asa cure for tummy upsets etc.

for centurys. This is because it has been foundtobe very good at stopping the bacteriawhich grow in the stomach.Hot foods with lots of chilli are ment to stop bacteria growth and have a longer sell by date. Chickens are being fed chilli so that the farmers don't need to pay for antibacterials.

Pepper

Pepper has been found to stop the growth of bacteria,fungi and mold. It has been used to treat astma,diahooria,indigestion,fever and obestiy and many more.

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Black pepper is known to stops intestal gas. It pepper has acids that can burn the growth of fungi and bacteria because pepper contains a burning acid. Pepper also is a natural blood thinner.

Prediction

We thought that the pepper, chili and control 2 (which contained ethanol) would have a clear area around it in the bacteria lawn because we believed from the research we did and the things we learn in class that all these three have antibacterial properties. However control 1 will have bacteria growing around it since it doesn't have anything to protect it from bacteria.

Apparatus

* Petri Dish

* Filter Paper Disks

* Forceps

* Plant Extracts

* Marker Pen

* Agar

Method

Leave it in a warm place- it should be around 20- 25o C for 2-3 days. Look at your dish but do no open it!!

Results

Diameter (mm)

Difference (mm)

Control 1

0mm 0mm

0mm 0mm

Control 2

7mm 10mm

1mm 4mm

Pepper

8mm 16mm

2mm 10mm

Chili

7mm 11mm

1mm 5mm

Group 1 Group 2

Group 1 Group 2

From this graph we can conclude that our prediction was correct because control 1, chili and pepper all had a clear area around it.

Our results show that both the plant extracts we tested have anti-bacterial properties which where the same as or higher than control 2.

Pepper was most effective at stopping bacterial growth because both groups discovered that it left the widest clear area out of all of them- group 1's pepper extract left an 8mm clear area and group 2's left a 16mm clear area.

Other groups in our class did not get the same results. This might have been because the added less or more of the extracts or because they petri dish was in a different temperature to ours or maybe their measurements weren't right etc.

We could improve the method for this experiment to make the results more similar by making sure that we all take the same amount of plant extract- perhaps we could measure this and by placing it in the same temperature etc.