Studying the effect of formulations EC16 as potential bactericidal agent on Endospore forming bacteria

Some of the bacteria are Endospore formers; their vegetative cells are actively growing cells; however, dormancy makes them form endospores. This dormant period can enable the endospores to become resistant to environmental conditions such as extreme temperatures, chemical exposure, and UV radiation thus causing problems in the medical field and food industry. The EC16 formulations (EC16 liquid and gel), green tea polyphenol P-EGCG containing organic formula, was used to investigate three Gram-positive rod-shaped endospore-forming bacteria; Bacillus cereus, Bacillus megaterium, and Bacillus subtilis. The hypothesis was if the EC16 formulation was added to the vegetative cells, it would inhibit bacterial growth. In this study, a time-kill suspension test was used to determine the effectiveness of EC16 as an antibacterial agent. The vegetative cells were added to two treatments (EC16, EC16 gel) for five minutes. Clorox was used as a positive control. The cells were then plated on X plates with a dilution factor of 10^-3 to count their colony-forming units (CFU). Percent of inhibition was calculated to determine the effectiveness of the treatments. The results indicated that the EC16 liquid formulation had an inhibition ranging from 93% to 100%. The EC16 gel and Clorox treatments had better results, with both inhibitions ranging from 96% to 100%. This preliminary study indicated that EC16 and EC16 gel effectively inhibit the vegetative cells of these endospore formers and may further commercialize it as an organic antibacterial agent.