Dye extract of calyces of Hibiscus sabdariffa has photodynamic antibacterial activity: A prospect for sunlight‐driven fresh produce sanitation

Photodynamic sanitation of fresh produce could help reduce spoilage and disease transmissions where conventional methods of sanitation are not available, and sunlight is available for free. In this study, we evaluated the photostability and photodynamic antibacterial activity of the dye extracts of calyces of Hibiscus sabdariffa. The dye extracts were very photostable in water but bleached in acetate‐HCl buffer (pH 4.6), phosphate buffer saline (pH 7.2), and tris base‐HCl buffer (pH 8.6). The photostability correlated with the photodynamic antibacterial activity of the dye extracts. Both the methanol and water dye extracts at the concentration of 0.0625 mg/ml caused complete inactivation of Bacillus subtilis (reductions of 8.5 log CFU/ml) within 2 min either with the visible light exposure at 10 mW/cm(2) or in the dark without the light exposure. Reductions of 4.8 log CFU/ml and 2.2 log CFU/ml of Escherichia coli were observed when 1 mg/ml of methanol and water dye extracts were used, respectively, in water with the light exposure at 10 mW/cm(2) for 20 min. Discussions are included about the ease of the dye extractions of the calyces of H. sabdariffa even in water without the need of energy for heating and the suitability of the dye extracts for the fresh produce sanitation. Dye extract of calyces of H. sabdariffa has photodynamic and nonphotodynamic antibacterial activity which could be exploited for the development of a low‐tech sunlight‐driven fresh produce sanitation system that is cheap, sustainable, and environmentally friendly.