Synergistic Antibacterial Effect of Tea Leaves Extract and Penicillin Produced by Penicillium chrysogenum Isolated from Decaying Fruits and Vegetables

There are indications that some herbal materials including tea, zinger, garlic, tulsi and neem can act as antibiotic resistance inhibitors. Combinations of some herbal materials and different antibiotics might affect the inhibitory effect of these antibiotics. The antimicrobial and resistance modifying potentials of herbal plants is due to of naturally occurring flavonoids and polyphenolic compounds. In this study it was evaluated that the combination of tea extract along with penicillin gave synergistic effect against various pathogenic bacterial strains. A total of 5 Penicillium chrysogenum isolated from different decaying fruit and vegetables. All the isolates were screened for penicillin production under different conditions. The production medium supplemented with 2% maltose as carbon source, at pH 6 it gave maximum zone of inhibition at suggested maximum production of antibacterial compound. 100M tea extract gave maximum zone of inhibition. The combination of penicillin with tea extract in ratio of 6:4, 5:5 and 4:6 gave maximum zone of inhibition showing optimum antibacterial effect, if used alone it does not yield such an effective result.