The Effect of Bromelain and Penicillin on Staphylococcus epidermidis
This experiment tests whether or not the natural antibiotic bromelain can terminate more of the bacteria Staphylococcus epidermidis than the commonly used chemical antibiotic penicillin. Antibiotic resistance for antibiotics such as penicillin is a growing issue in the medical field and using natural antibiotics as alternatives may be a way to fix it. If not fixed, harmful bacterial infections may adapt to resist antibiotics completely, which can cause large amounts of sickness and even death. This project hopes to solve antibiotic resistance before it is too late. In this experiment, bromelain and penicillin discs were put in Petri dishes filled with S. epidermidis. After 24 hours, the zone of inhibition, which is a circle around the antibiotic disc that indicates where the bacteria was terminated, was measured to determine how well of an antibiotic bromelain and penicillin are. After all data was taken, a two sample t-test was ran to determine if bromelain is just an effective antibiotic as penicillin. The test proved there is strong evidence to support the hypothesis claiming bromelain is a more effective antibiotic is true, considering the p-value calculated was 5.3 * 10-7. This means that there is almost a zero percent chance of obtaining these results assuming the null hypothesis, which states there is no difference in antibiotic abilities between bromelain and penicillin, is true. Hopefully these results will encourage scientists and doctors to take a closer look at natural antibiotics so that antibiotic resistance can be fixed.
Research Conducted By:
Ava Martellaro
Cousino High School
Brianne Cochill
Warren Woods Tower High School
Warren Consolidated Schools