Kristin Lehman

The purpose of this experiment is to find a novel way to treat burn wound infections instead of using the standard antibiotics.
‘Flavonoids’ are naturally derived secondary metabolites which have the potential to treat burn wound infections just as
effectively as conventional antibiotics. The significance of this experiment lies in the fact that over 40% of burn wound deaths
are due to infection. Antibiotic resistance has been causing serious complications for the healing of burn wounds. There has
been substantial research exploring the use of an alternative to antibiotics such as flavonoids. The flavonoids, Quercetin, and
any Quercetin combined compound, when compared to Rutin and Hesperidin alone, will be the most effective antibiotic
alternative against E. coli and S. epidermidis, the two most common bacterial infections found in burn wound infections. The
five hydroxyl groups present in Quercetin chemical structure enable it to possess enhanced antibacterial activity (Han, 2018).
Therefore, Quercetin will have the highest success rate as an antibiotic alternative because of its strong antibacterial nature.
Quercetin has also shown significant antibacterial activity against methicillin-resistant S. aureus (Geoghegan & Wang, 2015).
The effect of different flavonoids on wound infecting bacteria E. coli and S. epidermidis was determined by flooding Petri
dishes with E. coli and S. epidermidis and placing an antibiotic disk made of either an isolated flavonoid or combinations of
flavonoids.The results collected during this experiment concluded that the combination of all their flavonoids (Quercetin,
Rutin, and Hesperidin) was the most effective at inhibiting bacterial growth at the 50% concentration for E. coli and the 25%
concentration for S. epidermidis. Therefore the hypothesis was disproved because the QHR combination may have worked the
best due to synergy occurring between the flavonoids. A study done by the University of Science and Technology of China
tested synergistic action between Rutin, Morin, and Quercetin found that synergy occurs between the flavonoids resulting in
a greater MIC (minimum inhibitory concentration). Possible errors include contamination due to the use of ziploc bags and
the use of distilled water to create the weight-based concentrations instead of ethanol. Future Research regarding the use
of flavonoids could be evaluating the possible synergistic relationship by combining flavonoids and synthetic antibiotics as
another potential solution to counter antibiotic resistance. Additionally, the antiviral activities of flavonoids can be investigated
for use against global health threats such as the Covid-19 virus.