Effect of Eleutherine americana Merr. Extract on Enzymatic Activity and Enterotoxin Production of Staphylococcus aureus in Broth and Cooked Pork

Crude ethanolic extract from the bulb of Eleutherine americana was investigated for its inhibitory activities against lipase and protease enzymes and enterotoxin production by Staphylococcus aureus. Eleven isolates that demonstrated high enzyme activity with three reference strains were selected to study the effect of extract on enzyme production. Exposure of the isolates to subminimal inhibitory concentrations, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) (125 mu g/mL), and MIC (62.5 mu g/mL) of the crude extract resulted in both partial and total inhibition of lipase and protease enzymes. About 15% of the 106 isolates were positive for enterotoxin production with staphylococcal enterotoxin A (11.3%), enterotoxin B (3.7%), and enterotoxin C (10.3%), and no enterotoxin D was produced. The production of staphylococcal enterotoxins A -D in the presence or absence of the crude extract was carried out. In the broth system, the extract reduced enterotoxin production at subminimal inhibitory concentrations compared with the control. At MIC, total enterotoxin inhibition was observed for enterotoxin C production, whereas synthesis of enterotoxins A, B, and D was totally eliminated at 2MIC. The food system study revealed that the extract could delay production of enterotoxins A, B, and C compared with the control. The extract at 2 mg/mL delayed production of toxins A and C for 8 and 4 h, while toxin B was not detected in the pork at 48 h. The ability of E. americana extract to inhibit lipase and protease enzymes and to delay enterotoxin production in food could present it as a novel food additive to combat the growth of S. aureus in food.