Cucumber, the Anti-Bacterial Infection Functional Food

By Kyle J. Norton

Infection is a condition that leads to inflammation caused by the invasion of a microbial organism on body tissues

The bacterial infection is the infection caused by bacteria. Most cases of bacterial infection are treated with antibiotics. However, bacteria are very adaptable, overuse of antibiotics has made many of them resistant to antibiotics.

There are trillions of strains of bacteria in the world, but only a few of these cause diseases in humans. Some of them live inside our gut.

Most common symptoms of bacterial infection include redness and heat, swelling, fever, pain at the site of infection.

In severe cases, the patient may also experience symptoms of swollen lymph glands.

Most cases of bacterial infection can be treated successfully if the types of bacteria that cause the infection are identified.

There are many risk factors associated with the onset of bacterial infection, some researchers suggested that people with a weakened immune system may increase the prevalence of bacterial infection.

Dr. Doyon PR, the lead scientist wrote, "Patients with a weakened immune system due to immunosuppressive treatment are at increased risk of infection with Streptococcus pneumoniae".

And, " in patients treated with immunosuppressive medication and compared to controls, the initial serologic response to the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) and pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV) is impaired. Moreover, this impaired response was more profound after PCV than after PPSV".

The cucumber plant is a species of Cucumis Sativus, belongs to the family Cucurbitaceae and native to Western Asia. It is a creeping vine with roots in the ground and grows up with the support of frames.

With an aim to find a natural antibiotic for the treatment of bacterial infection, researchers compared the effect of potassium phosphite (KPhi) and chitosan on Cucurbitacin E (CuE) concentration in different tissues of Cucumis sativus against E.coli PTCC 1399 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa PTCC 1430 bacterial strains.

The experiment includes

* Group1. Leaves were sprayed with distilled water (Control),
* Group 2. The leaves were solely treated with potassium phosphate (KPhi),
* Group 3. Leaves were solely sprayed with chitosan (Chitosan), and
* Group 4. Leaves were treated with KPhi and chitosan (KPhi + chitosan).

Where the KPhi (2 g L-1) and chitosan (0.2 g L-1) were applied twice every 12 h for one day. Fruits, roots, and leaves were harvested 24 h later.

According to the results of antibacterial activity in each group, the highest level of CuE was found in fruit (2.2 g L-1) of plants under concomitant applications of KPhi and chitosan. 

In other words, under the infected stage, fruit extract exhibited the highest potential for activity against E. coli PTCC 1399 (with a mean zone of inhibition equal to 36 mm) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa PTCC 1430 (with a mean zone of inhibition equal to 33 mm).

Based on the findings, researchers concluded, "KPhi and chitosan can induce production of CuE compound and increase the antibacterial potential of cucumber plant extract".

Additionally, researchers in the examination of cucumber seed antibacterial effect also found that besides acting as natural antibiotics without affecting nearby healthy cells, cucumber seed also has strong activity in improving good bacteria in the gut.

Precisely, cucumber seed enhanced the total number of gut bacteria and altered the abundance of specific bacterial phylum or genus.

Taken altogether, cucumber and its bioactive compound cucurbitacin B (CuB) may be used for the treatment of bacterial infection, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Intake of CuB in the form of supplement should be taken with extreme care to prevent overdose acute liver toxicity.

Natural Medicine for Fatty Liver And Obesity Reversal - The Revolutionary Findings To Achieve Optimal Health And Lose Weight

How To Get Rid Of Eye Floaters 
Contrary To Professionals Prediction, Floaters Can Be Cured Naturally 

Ovarian Cysts And PCOS Elimination
Holistic System In Existence That Will Show You How To
Permanently Eliminate All Types of Ovarian Cysts Within 2 Months

Back to Kyle J. Norton Homepage http://kylejnorton.blogspot.ca
Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) Comparison between the effects of potassium phosphite and chitosan on changes in the concentration of Cucurbitacin E and on antibacterial property of Cucumis sativus by Ramezani M1, Rahmani F2, Dehestani A. (PubMed)
(2) Chemical Compositions of Cold-Pressed Broccoli, Carrot, and Cucumber Seed Flours and Their in Vitro Gut Microbiota Modulatory, Anti-inflammatory, and Free Radical Scavenging Properties by Choe U1, Li Y1,2, Gao B2, Yu L1, Wang TTY, Sun J, Chen P, Liu J3, Yu L. (PubMed)
(3) The effect of immunosuppressive agents on immunogenicity of pneumococcal vaccination: A systematic review and meta-analysis by van Aalst M1, Langedijk AC1, Spijker R2, de Bree GJ Grobusch MP4, Goorhuis A. (PMC)