Anti-bacterial profile of some beers and their effect on some selected pathogens

Abstract

The investigation of the therapeutic properties of some beers, allow us to study their anti-bacterial profile against food born diseases caused by bacteria such as Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium, Staphilococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Bacillus anthracis and Bacillus subtilis. The results obtained show that beers B2 and B3 had no anti-bacterial activity on the tested bacteria, whereas, beer B1 had bactericidal activity on gram positive and gram negative bacteria. The anti-spore activity of beer B1 on B. anthracis, B. cereus and B. subtilis exhibited a microcycle (sporulationgermination-sporulation), which could permit the application of soft preservation methods during the first 5 h for B. cereus and B. subtilis and during the first 10 h for B. anthracis. Finally, the results seem to confirm some popular practices. The beer B1 presents some potentialities for the treatment of gastro-enteritis.

Keywords: Food contaminations, beer, anti-bacterial substance, gastro-enteritis

African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 9(36), pp. 5938-5945, 6 September, 2010