Identification of bioactives from Carissa spinarum fruits and their anti-quorum sensing activity on food borne pathogens.

Quorum sensing (QS) regulates several traits like virulence, biofilm formation,
motility, conjugation at a cell density population through a signal molecule known as
acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL) in Gram-negative bacteria. QS traits like biofilm and
motility play a major role in pathogens related to human infection and food spoilage.
Plant secondary metabolites or bioactive compounds have been shown as safe
inhibitors of QS in food borne pathogens thus controlling spoilage and infections as
there is no selective pressure that makes microbes less resistant. Fruits are one of the
richest sources of bioactive compounds. Carissa spinarum is an underutilized plant
found widely in drylands of the Western Ghats region of India which bears delicious
berry-sized fruits. It has been consumed by tribes and local people and used in the
form of pickles, salads, jam and jellies and is used to cure gastrointestinal infection
indicating its antibacterial activity, however, had no valid scientific evidence. Though
the underutilized fruits of C. spinarum have bioactive compounds, the changes in the
nutritional and nutraceutical potential of C. spinarum fruits during ripening had not
been exploited. Our study revealed fruits showed a good amount of carbohydrate,
protein, and lipid and was observed during ripening the phenolics and flavonoids
content increased and ripe fruits had a good amount of anthocyanin as those of
commercially available strawberries