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The Effects of Black Tea on the Growth of E. Coli Bacteria Cultures

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The effects of black tea on the growth of E. coli bacteria cultures
Kierstin Barker, Melissa Bischak, Jackie Tyszkiewicz, Errin Enany
September 25, 2012
Abstract: This study was carried out in order to investigate whether black tea has antimicrobial properties as stated in Steven Johnson’s The Ghost Map. If tea does have antimicrobial properties, then it could aid in warding off waterborne diseases. We believed that if black tea is steeped in boiled water, then the amount of bacteria exposed to this solution would decrease. We expected to see no difference in the amount of bacteria exposed to the black tea solution. Tannic acid, black tea, boiled water, and a tetracycline antibiotic were tested for their zones of inhibition in order …show more content…

The arrows represent the side in which the solution was placed. Each half of the plate contained 3 discs doused with the appropriate solution.
After the water was boiled, a black tea bag was then placed into one of the beakers and steeped for 4 minutes. This time was monitored using a stopwatch. After the tea had been steeped, 6 discs were dipped into the tea solution and then placed in the appropriate agar plate (plate #3). The discs were fairly equal distances apart. The same procedure was done with the other beaker of boiled water, the antibiotic, and the different percentages of tannic acid. A total of 6 discs were placed on each plate (ex: 3 dipped in boiled water, 3 in antibiotic in plate #1).
These agar plates with added discs were then placed in an incubator set to 37⁰C for 48 hours and then placed in a refrigerator at 4⁰C. After the allotted time, the agar plates were taken out of storage and the bacterial reactions to the different solutions were observed and the zone of inhibition on each disc was measured in centimeters using a caliper measuring tool.
Results:
Table 1. Average diameter in centimeters of the zone of inhibition of the discs soaked each solution. Diameter of

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