Effect of Pomegranate Juice Extract on <em>Streptococcus mutans </em>- An In Vitro Study

BACKGROUND

Chlorhexidine the gold standard among anti-plaque agents, though one of the most potent antimicrobial agents, has several drawbacks bringing forth the need for studies focusing on development of new antibacterial agents that are equally or more effective with marginal consequences on the oral tissue. Pomegranate is known for its excellent antioxidant properties and antiplaque effect. Thus, this in-vitro study aims to estimate the influence of pomegranate juice extract mouth rinse (PJE) on S. mutans and compare the zone of inhibition of a pomegranate extract mouth rinse with chlorhexidine.

METHODS

Freshly prepared pomegranate juice was acquired using the sterilised grinder of the research laboratory. 400 mL of pomegranate juice was heated for 1 hr to get a heavy concentrate. Concentrations of 1200, 900, 600, 300, 150 and 75 mg / mL was tested. The bacterial strain expended in this study was S. mutans microbial type culture collection (MTCC) 890. Five samples of chlorhexidine was taken as control to compare the effect of pomegranate mouth rinse. Mann Whitney U test was employed to compare the antibacterial property between the two groups.

RESULTS

The zone of inhibition of S. mutans using PJE (300 and 600 mg / mL) was found to be statistically highly significant (P = 0.008 and p = 0.007) when compared to that of chlorhexidine.

CONCLUSIONS

PJE mouth rinse possesses remarkable antimicrobial activity against S. mutans present in the oral cavity as tested in vitro, and may be used as an adjunct to prevent dental caries and improve oral health.