Antibacterial and Antifungal Potentialities of Earthworm Eudrilus eugeniae Paste and Coelomic Fluid

Abstract

A study was carried out on the antibacterial and antifungal properties of earthworms Eudrilus eugeniae paste and coelomic fluid against selected pathogens like Vibrio cholera, Vibrio parahaemoliticus, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhi, Escherichia coli,Candida albicans ,Aspergilus flavus, and Aspergilus niger. The study was conducted on School of Environmental Sciences, Kottayam. The coelomic fluid and paste of earthworms was screened against some human pathogenic bacteria including six bacterial strains and three fungal strains. The earthworm was collected by handsorting method. The earthworm paste were prepared and coelomic fluid was collected by heat and cold shock method   The antimicrobial activity was done through the agar well diffusion method. The result revealed that the antibacterial activity in earthworm paste shows that Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus shows 16mm, 8mm,18mm diameter. The other bacterial isolates shows no zone of inhibition. The zone of inhibition of coelomic fluid against Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus shows 10mm,14mm,16mm simultaneously. The Vibrio parahaemolyticus shows slight changes in the zone of inhibition area. Vibrio cholera and Staphylococcus typhishows no activity against paste and coelomic fluid of earthworm. The antifungal activity of earthworm Eudrilus eugeniae against fungal strains like Candida albicans, Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus flavus. The coelomic fluid of Candida albicans18mm shows high zone of inhibition compared to Aspergillus niger 16mm. The earthworm paste of Eudrilus eugeniae shows antifungal property against Aspergillus niger (14 mm). Aspergillus flavus shows no activity against paste and coelomic fluid of earthworm. The present work conclude that the Eudrilus eugeniae paste and coelomic fluid shows antibacterial and antifungal  properties against selected bacterial and fungal isolates  and suggests some of the coelomic fluid and pastes components might be useful for pharmaceutical applications.