TITLE:
Enhanced Sporicidal Activity of Alcohol and Epigallocatechin-Palmitate-Based Hand Hygiene Formulations Comprised of Plant-Derived Compounds
AUTHORS:
Tinchun Chu, Lee H. Lee, Ayuni Yussof, Sabrina Lopez, Gabriela Herrera, Priscilla Luna, Mahfuza Uddin, Laying Wu, John A. Murzaku, Douglas Dickinson, Stephen Hsu
KEYWORDS:
Alcohol, Hand Hygiene, Sporicidal, Bacterial Spores, Plant-Derived Compounds
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Biosciences and Medicines,
Vol.8 No.6,
June
5,
2020
ABSTRACT: Pathogenic spore-forming bacteria pose high risks to
healthcare settings, as well as in the food and beverage industries. We
reported recently that novel alcohol-based formulations containing
plant-derived compounds, including epigallocatechin-3-gallate-palmitate
(EGCG-P), a green tea polyphenol ester, provide > 99.99% inactivation of
bacterial spores within 60 sec. Based on recently published data from our group
and others, we hypothesize that a combination of EGCG-P and alcohol formulated
with other plant-derived ingredients would achieve high sporicidal efficacy
against a wide spectrum of bacterial spores and can provide novel hand hygiene
methods against bacterial spores without toxicity. The objectives of the
current study were to optimize two novel formulations
with combinations of glycerol, citric acid, and EGCG-P to increase sporicidal
activity and explore the rapid inactivation mechanisms and suitability for
sporicidal products with broad-spectrum activities against aerobic and anaerobic
bacterial spores. Methods included suspension testing of two formulations
against spores from Bacillus cereus and Clostridium sporogenes,
quantification of spore germination, and scanning electron microscopy. The
results demonstrated that these novel formulations were able to reduce spore
germination by >99.999% after 30 sec exposure in suspension tests, and rapidly caused physical damage to the spores.
Additional studies arewarranted
to determine the suitability of the novel formulations for future hand hygiene
use.