Strawberry Extract’s Effects on Enterococcus faecalis and Porphyromonas gingivalis Biofilms in vitro
<p><strong>Background</strong>: <em>Enterococcus faecalis </em>(<em>E. faecalis</em>)<em> </em>and<em> Porphyromonas gingivalis</em> (<em>P. gingivalis</em>) are oral bacteria related to root canal infection and periodontal disease pathogenesis. Strawberries (<em>Fragaria x ananassa</em>) fruit are rich in vitamins and minerals, have antibacterial and antioxidant effects.<strong> Objective</strong>: This study investigated the inhibition effect of strawberry extract on monospecies and multispecies <em>E. faecalis </em>and<em> P. gingivalis </em>bacteria grown as biofilms<em> in vitro.</em> <strong>Methods:</strong> This study used <em>E. faecalis</em> ATCC 29212 <em>and P. gingivalis</em> ATCC 33277. It analyzed<strong> </strong>the effect of strawberry extract on bacteria biofilm formation using a biofilm assay on microplate wells. Five concentrations of strawberry extracts were used (100%, 50%, 25%, 12.5%, and 6.25%), and the inhibition effect was observed after a 1h, 3h, 6h, and 24h incubation period. Biofilms without the strawberry extract were used as the negative controls, and crystal violet and safranin (0.5%<sup>w</sup>/<sub>v</sub>) were used to count the biofilm mass. The biofilms grown on microplates were counted using an ELISA reader at 450 nm after 200 mL of 90% ethanol was added to attract the absorbed stain. The strawberry extract inhibition effectiveness on the biofilm formation of each bacterium tested was analyzed using one-way Anova, where p<0.05 was defined as a significant difference. <strong>Result</strong>: The strawberry extract inhibited the tested monospecies and multispecies bacteria biofilm formation. The optimal strawberry extract concentration for the inhibition of either monospecies biofilms was 100%. However, the optimal incubation time for the strawberry extract to inhibit the multispecies biofilm formation was 24h, which was the study’s biofilm maturity phase.<strong> Conclusions: </strong>The 100%<strong> </strong>strawberry extract concentration inhibited the formation of both the monospecies and multispecies <em>E. faecalis </em>and <em>P. gingivalis</em> biofilms. Future studies are needed to evaluate the potential of strawberry extract as an alternative dental therapy.</p>