THE EFFECTS OF FRUIT JUICES AND AMPICILLIN ON ESCHERICHIA COLI Kelly Mannion~ Academy of Notre Dame

Question If taking water with ampicillin is replaced by fruit juice will it interfere with the medicines effectiveness against E. coli?

Background and Rational Juices are rich in antioxidants Escherichia coli (E. coli) - gram-negative bacteria that lives in peoples intestines that can cause infections Ampicillin- a form of penicillin that fights or prevents the growth of the bacteria in a persons body Acidic fruit juices can harm antibiotics

Rationale This investigation was designed to test and find out the effects of ampicillin on E. coli when combined with fruit juice as compared to water.

Hypothesis If juice is added to ampicillin, then the citric juices will hinder the effectiveness of the ampicillin against E. coli

Procedure Dip 3 sterile disks in orange juice, 3 sterile disks in pomegranate juice, 3 sterile disks in cranberry juice, 3 sterile disks in grapefruit juice Dip 3 sterile disks in sterile, distilled water and 3 in ampicillin and allow all to dry. Mix 5 solutions consisting of 1mL of ampicillin and 5mL of each juice and sterile water. Allow 3 sterile disks to absorb in each solution and dry in separate petri dishes. Pipette 1ml of E. coli on a petri dish containing nutrient agar and place a sterile disk for each juice on it. Do the same for another petri dish and place 4 sterile disks on it (ampicillin, ampicillin and orange juice, ampicillin and cranberry juice, ampicillin and grapefruit juice).

Procedure (continued) Pipette 1ml of E. coli on another petri dish and place 3 sterile disks on it (water, ampicillin and pomegranate juice, ampicillin and sterile distilled water). Seal and label the petri dishes accordingly and place in an incubator. Repeat steps 6-7 for 2 additional trials. Allow the petri dishes to stay in the incubator for 48 hours then remove and observe. Record the zone of inhibitions from one side to the other for each sterile disk (mm) and make observations.

Variables Independent: Fruit juice used (Cranberry, Pomegranate, Grapefruit, Orange) Dependent: Zone of inhibition Control: Sterile water, ampicillin

Data

Conclusion Fruit juices and sterile water do affect both the growth of E. coli and the ampicillin No statistical difference between the groups of data collected No fruit juice can be determined as the most effective or harmful in aiding the ampicillin

Limitations One petri dish had to be discounted-inconsistency in the data for each of the pomegranate, grapefruit, and sterile water mixtures with ampicillin Possibility that the petri dishes were not coated evenly Various incubation times

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