Effects of Sarawak local salts and commercial sodium chloride on biofilm formation of Vibrio cholerae

ABSTRACT

Aims@#Bacterial biofilms can be defined as a community of microorganisms in which cells adhere to one another on a surface and are embedded in a protective matrix of lipids, nucleic acids, proteins and polysaccharides. Biofilm produced by Vibrio cholerae represents a significant threat to food safety, as they can lead to the transmission of diseases. Hence, the purpose of this study is to review the effect of different types of sodium chloride on minimum biofilm eradication concentration (MBEC) and morphology of biofilm formation of Vibrio cholerae. @*Methodology and results@#In this study, V. cholerae biofilm was treated with four different types of sodium chloride; ‘Bario’ salt, ‘Bakelalan’ salt, commercial sodium chloride and laboratory sodium chloride. By using MBEC test, the concentration of sodium chloride needed to eradicate the biofilm of V. cholerae was determined. Based on the result obtained, commercial sodium chloride and laboratory sodium chloride showed the highest anti-biofilm activity against the biofilm of V. cholerae at 500 mg/mL concentration while no complete eradication of V. cholerae biofilm was achieved when treated with Sarawak local salts (‘Bario’ salt and ‘Bakelalan’ salt). However, noticeable inhibitions of bacterial growth were seen at the highest concentration of local salts. @*Conclusion, significance and impact of study@#Commercial sodium chloride and laboratory sodium chloride showed a better anti-biofilm activity towards the V. cholerae biofilm formation as compared to the local salts. Thus, commercial sodium chloride and laboratory sodium chloride can be an effective anti-biofilm agent to mitigate the biofilm formation of V. cholerae. Further studies can be done to determine the MBEC values of other pathogenic bacteria against commercial and laboratory sodium chloride.