Anti-microbial and cytotoxic activities of green and ripe banana peels

Abstract

Banana peels (BPs) have an excellent nutrient content due to presence of many bioactive compounds. However, an enormous amount of  them is wasted daily, leading to environmental pollution. This study aimed to evaluate the anti-microbial and in vitro cytotoxic activities of  green and ripe peel extracts (GPE and RPE, respectively) of banana. Total phenolic (TPC), total flavonoid (TFC), saponin contents, DPPH,  and total antioxidant capacity (TAC), total protein (T.P), lipid (T.L), carbohydrate (T.C), were detected in GPE and RPE. Gas- chromatography mass spectrophotometry (GC-MS) analysis was determined in BPs extracts. Anti-fungal, antibacterial and cytotoxic  activities were determined. The results showed that the TPC, TFC, saponin, T.P, T.L T.C and TAC contents in GPE were much higher than  those in RPE. According to the results, only hexadecanoic acid was found in both extracts. Both GPE and RPE did not show anti-fungal activity, however, the GPE showed superior anti-bacterial and cytotoxic activities than RPE. Overall, the GPE had higher potential anti- microbial and cytotoxic effects than RPE.