Citrus sinensis a potential solution against superbugs

The rate of drug resistance strains increased drastically over the past several decades, which forced researchers to develop new drugs to treat these pathogens. In the present study by the use of well diffusion method, the antimicrobial activity of Citrus sinensis and its synergism with chitosan modified compound (CMC) were checked. The multidrug resistant bacterial strains Pseudomonas aeruginosa , Escherichia coli , Staphylococcus aureus , vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VRSA), Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) , Acinetobacter baumannii , VRSA and coagulase negative, and methicillin-resistant and vancomycin sensitive S. aureus were used against the different solvents of C. sinensis (seeds, leaves, stem, juice, fruit peel and C. sinensis peels) i.e. methanol and ethyl acetate to check its anti-MDR activity. Furthermore, methanolic and ethyl acetate extracts were then tagged with CMC and the results were compared. Out of two solvents, the highest activity was shown by ethyl acetate extracts followed by methanolic extracts and the formulation of the C. sinensis and CMC showed even more activity than simple extracts. Ethyl acetate extract of leaves of C. sinensis , tagged with CMC illustrates highest activity zone i.e. 53.3 mm against MDR E. coli while simple ethyl acetate C. sinensis leaf extract against A. baumannii showed the highest inhibition zone of 58.5 mm at the concentration of 100 mg/ml. Consequently, the C. sinensis could be a possible solution against superbugs.