I’d say that either testing it against other bacterial strains or a different concentrations. While elderberry extract was found to be ineffective against S. Typhimurium in this experiment, it’s possible that it could be effective against other bacterial strains. Our experiment was also testing elderberry extract at a max concentration of 10 ug/mL, but it’s possible that higher concentrations could be effective.
Could you try using the berries in a different form? Like maybe heat up the stock so you could create a supersaturated stock solution to get more of the potentially antimicrobial compounds in it?
Yeah, definitely! Heat treatment would work well for breaking down the compound, and the opposite would work too. Cold maceration would have a similar effect –it involves soaking the elderberries in a solvent, such as water or ethanol, at room temperature for several days, which allows the active compounds to be extracted slowly from the berries. Cold maceration is used in place of heat treatment for extracting more delicate compounds that can be damaged by heat.
What other experiments could potentially be performed to test the viability of these berries?
I’d say that either testing it against other bacterial strains or a different concentrations. While elderberry extract was found to be ineffective against S. Typhimurium in this experiment, it’s possible that it could be effective against other bacterial strains. Our experiment was also testing elderberry extract at a max concentration of 10 ug/mL, but it’s possible that higher concentrations could be effective.
Could you try using the berries in a different form? Like maybe heat up the stock so you could create a supersaturated stock solution to get more of the potentially antimicrobial compounds in it?
Yeah, definitely! Heat treatment would work well for breaking down the compound, and the opposite would work too. Cold maceration would have a similar effect –it involves soaking the elderberries in a solvent, such as water or ethanol, at room temperature for several days, which allows the active compounds to be extracted slowly from the berries. Cold maceration is used in place of heat treatment for extracting more delicate compounds that can be damaged by heat.