Abstract
The possibility of pectin having an effect on bacteria was considered in connection with a study of the therapeutic action of a pectin-agar, dextrimaltose mixture in the treatment of diarrheas of infants. 1 In order to test this possibility the following experiment was carried out.
Two percent pectinf added to heart-infusion broth (Difco) at pH 7.6, lowered the pH to 5.0-5.4. The medium was autoclaved at 15 pounds for 20 minutes and then transferred to sterile tubes in 10 cc. quantities. A tube of this medium was inoculated with a 4 mm. loopful of an 18-24-hour culture of Esch. coli and was shaken 25 times to insure thorough distribution. Dilution plates were made immediately, then after 24 hours and again after 48 hours of incubation at 37°C. A control medium without pectin was prepared in the same way and uninoculated controls were used to check the technic. It was found that the broth containing the pectin was either sterile after 48 hours or the number of organisms had decreased at least 98% while the bacteria had multiplied in the control cultures. This experiment was repeated using the same medium adjusted to pH 5.5, 6.0, 6.5 and 7.0. Illustrations of the results of these tests are shown in Table I. It has been shown that pectin is readily altered by alkali 2 which would explain the loss of the inhibitory action above pH 5.5. It could not be concluded from this work that pectin would decrease the bacterial count in the gastrointestinal tract, particularly in the lower bowel where the reaction is normally above pH 5.5.
Some preliminary work has been done on the treatment of wounds with aqueous solutions of pectin with very satisfactory results.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.