Comparing the bactericidal effect of white vinegar, chlorine tablets, bleach and Ex’sir solution on bacteria; to clean vegetables in the kitchen environment.

摘要

It is known that, several types of pathogenic bacteria are present in everywhere, including the surfaces of nutrients that people consume every day. Aim of this extended essay is to determine which type of non-toxic cleaning product is more efficient on destroying those bacteria on nutrients, in household usage. In other words, the efficiency of four different cleaning products is compared throughout this study. Therefore, the research question of this study is “Is there a statistically significant difference in bactericidal effects of chosen cleaning products, which are white vinegar, bleach, chlorine table and Ex’sir solution; in terms of their capability of inhibiting bacterial growth on fruits and vegetables?” It is hypothesized that “There will be significant differences in terms of bactericidal effect and inhibiting bacterial growth on fruits and vegetables in between the cleaning products used.” Moreover, it is expected that bleach has more efficiency than other cleaning products since it has the most alkaline properties among others.udIn order to test the hypothesis stock samples of E. coli and P. aeruginosa are taken. By two-fold serial dilution technique, the concentrations of four different cleaning products are diluted and bacteria samples are added in those solutions. After overnight incubation, the presence of bacteria in cleaning products, starting from different concentrations, are determined by observing turbidity in the wells. After obtaining the data, Kruskal-Wallis and Bonferroni Dunn tests are used to examine the results of the experiment.udAs a result, the results of Kruskal-Wallis test show that there is a significant difference between the products in terms of their bactericidal effects. It is found that chlorine tablet has the highest efficiency among the chosen cleaning products, in means of destroying both types of bacteria present in this study. The efficiency is followed by bleach, Ex’sir sanitizer solution and white vinegar.