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Abstract
Fungal growth is the most frequent cause of spoilage in bread products. To prevent economic losses associated with spoilage, producers or the bread industry is now looking for alternatives that are plant derived sources to the currently used preservatives. This study evaluated the antifungal property of the calabash fruit Crescentia cujete extract at 100, 75 and 50% concentration on the growth of fungi causing bread spoilage. Complete Randomized Design was used in three petri plates containing a pure culture of bread molds that was subjected to 100, 75 and 50% concentrations of C. cujete extract, and acetic acid as the control employing the Kirby-Bauer Disc Diffusion technique. There was a significant difference (P<0.05) in the antifungal property of C. cujete extract (100, 75 and 50%) and the acetic acid on the growth of fungi in bread. However, there were no significant differences (P>0.05) between these three concentrations. The fruit extract of C. cujete at various concentrations and control treatments against bread molds showed weak antifungal activity. Although the fruit extract of the C. cujete showed weak antifungal activity, this implies that it has a potential to be developed as an antifungal agent against bread molds. Further study is necessary to determine the optimum concentration of the fruit extract that can inhibit the fungal growth in bread products.
