Testing antimicrobial effects of tea tree oil using S. cerevisiae and bread mold

Authors

  • Jenisha Patel Centennial College
  • Lovleen Kaur Centennial College
  • Padmaja Shastri Centennial College

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14288/cjur.v7i1.195998

Abstract

Tea tree oil (TTO) is a naturally-occurring chemical extracted from the leaves of the narrow-leaved paperbark tree. It is well known as an antiseptic, but its potential as a natural household cleaning agent has not been thoroughly examined. We were interested in examining the anti-fungal properties of TTO, especially on common bread mold, spores of which are common to households. This study used fresh-baked white bread as media to observe the effects of TTO at 0.06% and 0.24% concentrations on mold spore formation and 0.25% TTO on yeast fermentation. It was concluded that TTO can inhibit mold growth at 0.06% concentration but did not reduce (p=0.07) yeast CO₂ production even at 0.25% concentration. The data highlights the efficacy of TTO against household mold and, based on our yeast results, is potentially non-toxic at low concentrations. More studies are required with a variety of mold species and concentrations of TTO to better understand its use as a cleaning agent.

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Published

2022-06-13

Issue

Vol. 7 No. 1 (2022): CJUR 7(1)

Section

Articles

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