Antibacterial Activity of Blowfly (Lucilia sericata) Against Pathogenic Bacteria

Nur Amirah Bazilah Nor Azizan¹, Asdren Zajmi^1*, Safaa Saud, N.² & Salleh Ismail¹

¹Department of Diagnostic and Allied Health Science, Faculty of Health and Life Science, Management & Science University, 40100 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
²Faculty of Information Sciences and Engineering, Management & Science University, 40100 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia

Dr. Asdren Zajmi, Department of Diagnostic and Allied Health Science, Faculty of Health and Life Science, Management & Science University, 40100 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia.

Keywords: Antibacterial; Lucilia sericata; Blowfly; Extract; Inhibition

Abstract

Resistant to many antibiotics, microorganisms have developed tremendous clinical problems in the treatment of infectious diseases. This study intends to identify the presence in the larval of Lucilia sericata of antibacterial properties. In order to achieve the objective, the body of the insect larval was injured by a sterile needle and larval extracts were prepared in three different pH, namely acidic (pH 5.0), neutral (pH 7.0) and alkaline (pH 8.0) buffers or water. The extracts were used to investigate antibacterial activities against four types of bacteria by disc diffusion assay as well as both minimum inhibitory and minimum bactericidal concentration. The three extracts showed inhibition against all bacteria including gram-positive, Bacillus spp and Staphylococcus aureus and gram-negative bacteria, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Out of the three extracts, the pH 5 (C) extract showed the highest inhibition against all of the bacteria, followed by the alkaline (pH 8) extract and the neutral (pH 7) extract. The Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) showed that the bacteria were still growing at pH 7 and pH 8, thus the dose of larval should be raised to greater than 400mg/mL.

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