Inhibition Of Microbial Biofilms
Inhibition of biofilm formation
In the test for inhibition of biofilm formation, it was found that both earthworm and mealworm extracts showed very high efficiency in inhibiting biofilm formation in E. coli and S. epidermidis. The absorbance in the presence of both extracts decreased to zero, suggesting that biofilm formation was almost fully prevented. This is shown in Figure 14.
Figure 14: Both earthworm and mealworm extracts were effective in inhibiting the formation of biofilms of E. coli and S. epidermidis.
The percentage inhibition of formation of biofilm by both mealworm and earthworm extracts was much higher than that of dispersal of formed biofilm. Also, mealworm extract was slightly more efficient than earthworm extract in inhibiting biofilm formation. This is shown in Figure 15.
Figure 15: Percentage inhibition of formation of biofilm of E. coli and S. epidermidis by mealworm extract was slightly higher than that of earthworm extract.