ANTIMICROBIAL PROPERTIES OF CRUSTACEAN CHITOSAN ON STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS (ATCC 6538) AND CANDIDA ALBICANS (ATCC 10231)

In recent years, there has been a rise in drug resistance in various microbes. This led to the necessity of the discovery of new bioactive compounds with antibacterial and antifungal activity. Thus, an attempt has been made to extract chitosan from shells of freshwater crabs, Maydelliathelphusa masoniana, and freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium dayanum. These crustaceans are commonly found in Jharkhand's ponds, rivers, and paddy fields. These are edible crustaceans, relished by the local people of Jharkhand. An assay of chitosan was done at different concentrations (1.25 mg/ml, 2.5 mg/ml, 3.75 mg/ml, and 5 mg/ml) using the agar well diffusion method against S. aureus (ATCC 6538 ) and C.albicans (ATCC 10231). The result showed the antibacterial activity against S. aureus was a zone of inhibition formed by M. masoniana chitosan, was 12.0±0.2 mm at 1.25 mg/ml, 13.03±0.05 mm at 2.5 mg/ml,14.16±0.15 mm at 3.75 mg/ml and 15.13±0.15 mm at 5 mg/ml. The positive control, Ciprofloxacin (5µg/disc) showed 25.03±0.05 mm inhibition zone. M. dayanum chitosan against S. aureus showed 14.03±0.20 mm at 1.25 mg/ml, 15.16±0.11 mm at 2.5 mg/ml,16.16±0.15 mm at 3.75 mg/ml and 17.20±0.20 mm at 5 mg/ml inhibition zone. The positive control, Ciprofloxacin (5µg/disc) showed a 28.03±0.05 mm inhibition zone. Antifungal activity against C. albicans revealed that the zone of inhibition formed by M. masoniana chitosan was 12.33±0.58 mm at 5 mg/ml and no inhibition zone was observed at 3.75 mg/ml, 2.5 mg/ml, 1.25 mg/ml chitosan concentration and positive control, Streptomycin (10 µg disc-1 ) against the fungus. The zone of inhibition formed by M.dayanum chitosan was 14.33±0.58 mm at 5 mg/ml. No inhibition zone was observed at 3.75 mg/ml, 2.5 mg/ml, and 1.25 mg/ml chitosan concentration, and positive control, Streptomycin (10 µg disc-1) against the fungus. Comparison between the inhibition zone of chitosan (5 mg/ml) from M.masoniana and M. dayanum showed a significantly higher efficacy of chitosan extracted from M. dayanum against S. aureus (ATCC 6538) (p<0.001) and C.albicans (ATCC 10231) (p