Calabash fruit (Crescentia cujete linn) as an inhibitor for algal growth

Abstract

The Crescentia genus has received relatively little attention in terms of research, with only a limited number of species within the genus being studied and has garnered a reputation as a traditional medicinal agent used for the treatment of a multitude of health conditions. While Calabash Fruit may possess growth-inhibitory properties, its effectiveness as a growth inhibitor has not been extensively studied in the scientific literature, leaving the full extent of its potential in this regard remains uncertain. The extracts of different concentration of methanol solvent was used to determine its inhibition properties through Kirby-Bauer Test and chlorophyll content indications on algae growth using spectrophotometer. The Kirby-Bauer Test showed that Calabash Seed extracts had an inhibitory effect, indicated by discoloration on the agar medium, but without distinct zone of inhibition. On Spectrophotometry, The Chlorophyll a concentration on the samples representing the control group has the highest mean weight (σ = 10.779 μg/ml), and the lowest mean weight was the algae sample tested with the Calabash seed treated with 100% methanol concentration (σ = 2.3322 μg/ml). This study endorses that the Calabash fruit seeds extracted using methanol as the solvent has a discernible effect on algal growth.