Food Science and Technology Library

The mortality from skin infectious disease has declined in the last decades but viral and bacterial infections still could impact vulnerable populations worldwide. Jackfruit leaves were known to have pharmacological properties and were traditionally used for various ailment treatments. Currently, an abundance of jackfruit leaves is wasted without further processing as jackfruit trees need to be trimmed every after harvesting season. To overcome the economic loss of this agro-waste, an initiative step has been taken to value- added jackfruit leaves to generate income for jackfruit farmers. Symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY) jackfruit leaves (JL) extract was produced under a controlled fermentation approach using a targeted SCOBY to create functional phytochemical properties to reduce inflammation rate and fasten wound recovery from skin pathogenic- infected diseases. The antimicrobial property of JL extract was evaluated against selected skin-borne pathogenic microbes. Evidence from time-kill studies indicated that 65% JL extract has a potent killing effect (100%) against Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Propionibacterium acnes within a short period of time (2-4 hrs). Based on this concentration, a JL cream was developed and its effectiveness was evaluated on Herpes Simplex Virus-Type 1 (HSV 1)-infected mice to assess the skin recovery performance. The HSV 1 caused painful blisters or ulcers at the site of infection, ranging from mild to severe. After mice cutaneous inoculation with HSV-1, the skin lesion treated with topical JL cream was observed daily and the lesion score reached 3 after 6 days of treatment, indicating the potential of skin lesion recovery when compared to untreated mice with the lesion score of 6. Even though the positive control treatment (Zirax cream) showed almost complete healing after 6 days of treatment, it was reported to cause serious side effects. A skin irritation test was also conducted on rabbit skin and the results confirm the dermatological safety of SCOBY jackfruit leaves cream as non-irritant.