Inquiry Lab: Spices as Antibiotics

Cultures are often identified not only by their language, clothing, music, but also by their foods.  Curry and cinnamon evoke images of  India; hot chiles, Mexico; oregano, Italy.  Recently it has been reasoned that not only are these spices available, and hence, a part of the cuisine, but that they may also possess antibiotic properties.

One of our tasks as Woodrow Wilson Fellows was to work in a group on a microbiology inquiry project.  We chose to study antibiotic properties of spices.  Using  pure cultures of bacteria, we tested cinnamon, garlic, red chili pepper, jalopeno, oregano, and curry.  The results are reported in the detailed description of our lab, Biodiversity: The Spice of Life.
 
 

Tom Koenigsberger Scott Hatcher Ginger Torregrossa Kathy Ranwez Colleen McMillin	Flaming the "hockey stick", a glass tube bent in order to spread the bacteria on the agar.	Placing the spice-impregnated disks  onto the inoculated plates.

Pure cultures and  petri dishes with ruler for scale.	Bacillus subtilis results.  The largest zone of inhibition is exhibited by garlic.	Escherichia coli results.  Once again,  garlic produced the largest zone of inhibition.

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