Water and dimethylsulfoxide were other solvents we tried but were unable to get phloroglucinol to dissolve in them. Anything that is nontoxic to humans and to the bacteria would make for a good experiment I think.
I was wondering what would be the criteria for selecting a new compound from the same group but different from phloroglucinol? Would it be structural difference?
We chose phloroglucinol because we were able to find a reference for it having some antimicrobial activity, so we might select another compound through the same process.
Water alone was not dissolving the compound well and so we moved to ethanol. 70% was the ethanol we had readily available in the lab and so we started with that before diluting to lower levels.
Why did you focus on polyphenols specifically, since they act on plants? Do certain characteristics of polyphenols seem indicative of their ability to offer protection to other organisms?
We chose polyphenols because I had heard a theory that the blackening of fruit when its skin is broken is due to the production of an antibiotic compound to defend the fruit, and looking into this is how we turned up research about polyphenols. We did not due exhaustive research into the compounds so I can’t rule out their presence in other organisms but I can tell you that all the information we gathered mentioned them only in plants.
What other solvents could be used other than ethanol?
Water and dimethylsulfoxide were other solvents we tried but were unable to get phloroglucinol to dissolve in them. Anything that is nontoxic to humans and to the bacteria would make for a good experiment I think.
I was wondering what would be the criteria for selecting a new compound from the same group but different from phloroglucinol? Would it be structural difference?
We chose phloroglucinol because we were able to find a reference for it having some antimicrobial activity, so we might select another compound through the same process.
Why did you start with such a high percentage of ethanol?
Water alone was not dissolving the compound well and so we moved to ethanol. 70% was the ethanol we had readily available in the lab and so we started with that before diluting to lower levels.
Why did you focus on polyphenols specifically, since they act on plants? Do certain characteristics of polyphenols seem indicative of their ability to offer protection to other organisms?
We chose polyphenols because I had heard a theory that the blackening of fruit when its skin is broken is due to the production of an antibiotic compound to defend the fruit, and looking into this is how we turned up research about polyphenols. We did not due exhaustive research into the compounds so I can’t rule out their presence in other organisms but I can tell you that all the information we gathered mentioned them only in plants.
Great job! Why did you chose ethanol?
Thank you. We chose ethanol after unsuccessfully attempting to dissolve phloroglucinol in water and in dimethylsulfoxide.