There are various natural antibacterial substances in nature, and these substances can be utilized in the development of antibacterial drugs, food additives, and other products. Based on high school microbiology cultivation knowledge, an experiment was designed to extract and isolate capsaicin from chili, and to detect the effect of capsaicin on the growth of three common bacteria, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Bacillus subtilis, using filter paper method.
1. Research approach: Use ethanol-petroleum ether solution to extract capsaicin.
2. Experimental purpose: Investigate the method of extracting capsaicin from dried chili powder.
3. Experimental principle: Use ethanol to separate the active substances and extract capsaicin extract.
4. Experimental materials and tools: Dried chili powder, ethanol, petroleum ether, blender, beaker, magnetic stirrer, rotary evaporator, filter paper, sterile test tube, test tube holder.
Capsaicin has the strongest inhibitory effect on Staphylococcus aureus. Through the analysis of experimental results and subsequent research, we realized that this important food seasoning, chili, can not only be used in the food industry but also in the healthcare industry. The ethanol-petroleum ether extraction process is more operationally simple, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly compared with the acetone method. Therefore, it is widely used in industrial production. Chili is a common seasoning in daily life. With the development of large-scale agriculture, chili is widely available and suitable for industrial production. The development of various separation techniques for natural active substances is closely related to the human health industry.
Capsaicin powder has antibacterial effect on bacteria. Japanese researchers have achieved the effect of inhibiting actinomycetes growth by adding capsaicin to toothpaste. Capsaicin can also be used in food storage. By utilizing the antibacterial properties of capsaicin, it can be applied to research on grain storage. Currently, the abuse of antibiotics also poses a threat to people's health. Replacing antibiotics with capsaicin's antibacterial effect is conducive to solving the problem of antibiotic abuse.
There are many natural antibacterial substances in plants. Many kinds of Chinese medicinal plants can be separated into antibacterial substances. These antibacterial substances have green, environmentally friendly, and safe characteristics and have a wide range of application prospects. For example, antibacterial substances have been found in mugwort leaves, ginkgo, and green tea. By extracting them with organic solvents and conducting antibacterial experiments, it is convenient to develop new antibacterial processes.
The plant species in nature are diverse and very important to human life. As one of the most commonly used plants in daily life, chili has an inhibitory effect on bacteria when extracted, so as long as we observe and study carefully, we can find plant components with important application value around us.
