The intensity of bacterial inhibition activity (IINIB) and the intensity of bacterial inactivation activity (IINAB) of extracts of eight peppers of the genus Capsicum, ethnographically located in the metropolitan region of Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil, were assessed in vitro through Dilution Tests in Multiple Tube Series against standardized bacterial inocula (American Type Culture Collection - ATCC), Staphylococcus aureus (25923), Enterococcus faecalis (19433), Salmonella enteritidis (13076), and Escherichia coli (11229), respectively, at challenge doses = 10(7) CFU mL-1. Four of these species, cayenne pepper (Capsicum sp pool), garden pepper (C. annuum), ají pepper (C. baccatum), and malagueta pepper (C. frutescens), had selective inhibition and inactivation activities, in decreasing order, to salmonella, fecal coliforms, enterococcus and staphylococcus. The remaining ones, cambuci pepper (C. baccatum) and yellow, green and red sweet peppers (C. annuum) had no activity. The validity of the ethnographic tool in the exploration of antibacterial protection factors from plants, as well as the influence of inhibition/inactivation in the bacteriological diagnosis predictability, is discussed.
antibacterial activity; bacterial inhibition; bacterial inactivation; Capsicum sp; hot and sweet peppers
