Antibacterial Activity of Capsicum annum L. Juice Against Klebsiella pneumonia Isolated from Respiratory Tract Infections

Aims: Klebsiella pneumoniae can be defined as one of the virulent pathogens with a high level of antibiotic resistance. The goal of the presented work was to see if Capsicum annuum L. juice has antibacterial activity against K. pneumonia, a bacteria seen in respiratory tract infections. Materials & Methods: Fifty respiratory tract infections have been collected that include such bacterium’s resistance to some antibiotics, the qualitative detection of C. annuum L. juice effective groups, the minimal inhibitory concentration of C. annuum L. juice, and the inhibition activity against the growth of K. pneumoniae, and its cytotoxicity was studied. Findings: The cultural results showed that 12 (24%) isolates were related to K. pneumonia, and the associated virulence factors with K. pneumonia pathogenicity are capsule, hemolysin, urease, biofilm production, and β-lactamase production. All isolates showed resistance to 100% Ampicillin and indicated that juice contained high percentages of active compounds. The minimal inhibitory concentration value of C. annuum L. was 6.25mg/mL for the bacterial isolates related to K. pneumoniae. There has been a considerable difference at p≤0.050, while the cytotoxicity shows that Juice C. annuum L. has no cytotoxic activity against human red blood cells. Conclusion: Antibacterial activity of C. annuum L. juice increases with the increase of its concentration, and it is possible to use it as an adjunct treatment to eliminate or reduce the growth of some pathogens.