Alaa Afif ^(1)*

 (1).Tartous Research Center, General Commission for Scientific Agricultural Research, Syria.

(*Corresponding author: Alaa Afif   E-Mail alaa.afef88@gmail.com,Telephone: 0982179887).

Received: 16/02/2025                          Accepted : 28/05/2025

Abstract: 

In order to find natural alternatives to chemical preservatives and reduce their side effects, the effectiveness of grapefruit, pomelo and lemon peel extracts was studied on two types of pathogenic bacteria (Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) isolated from chicken meat. Samples were collected from a poultry farm in Tartous and transported refrigerated to the laboratory. Their diagnosis was confirmed by culturing them on differentiating media and by biochemical tests. The results showed significant variation between the inhibition diameters, as the alcoholic pomelo peel extract outperformed all other extracts with a statistical significance of inhibition diameters of (14.50 mm), then the alcoholic grapefruit peel extract with a significance of (12.17 mm), then the alcoholic lemon peel extract with a significance of (11.83 mm), then the aqueous pomelo peel extract and aqueous grapefruit with a significance of (10.67 mm), followed by the aqueous lemon peel extract with a significance of (10.00 mm), then the antibiotics gentamicin with a significance of (9.67 mm), and fosfomycin with a significance of (5.83 mm). Thus, the aqueous and alcoholic extracts of lemon peels, pomelo, and grapefruit show encouraging effectiveness that may qualify them as natural antimicrobials.

 Keywords: Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ,peels, lemon, pomelo, grapefruit.

 Full paper in Arabic: PDF