In vitro screening of mucus and solvent extracts of Eisenia foetida against human bacterial and fungal pathogens.

Earthworms are macro invertebrate and have been widely used as therapeutic drugs for thousands of years. In the current research, experiments viz., the antibacterial, antifungal and antioxidant activity of mucus and solvent extracts of Eisenia foetida were conducted to investigate for the first time in Pakistan against human infectious pathogens. Antimicrobial activity of E. foetida against human pathogens underwent investigation through an agar disc diffusion method while an ABTS(•+) free radical scavenging method assessed the antioxidant activity. The percentage of bacterial and fungal growth was analyzed statistically with One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Results showed that the mucus IV of E. foetida produced a strong potent antibacterial and antifungal activity. Pseudomonas aeruginosa exhibited the highest inhibition zone (33.67±1.53 mm), followed by Klebsiella pneumonia (30.33±1.53mm), Penicillium notatum (30±0.051), Escherichia coli (29±1 mm), Candida albicans (28.33±0.54 mm), Staphylococcus aureus (27±1mm), Serratia marcescens (25.33±0.58 mm), Aspergillus flavus (25.33±0.58 mm), Staphylococcus epidermidis (24.33±0.58 mm), Streptococcus pyogenes (21.67±1.53 mm), and Aspergillus niger (20.67±0.53 mm). Mucus IV of E. foetida also showed the highest antioxidant activity (99%). The results clearly indicate that the mucus and solvent extracts contain effective antimicrobial properties and bioactive compounds to inhibit the growth of infectious pathogens. We conclude that mucus extracts of earthworm have significant level of antimicrobial and antioxidant activities and in future could be potentially used against various infectious pathogens.