Comparative analysis of antimicrobial properties of maggot (Musca domestica) crude extract, maggot chitosan and chitosan nanoparticles

Background: Maggot metabolites exhibit strong antibacterial and pro-inflammatory properties, making them a significant focus of scientific research. Aim: This study aimed to compare the antimicrobial properties of maggot extracts (MEx), maggot chitosan (MCs), and maggot chitosan nanoparticles (CNPs). Methodology: Maggot chitosan with 90.57% degree of deacetylation was extracted. CNPs were synthesized via ionotropic gelation with sodium tripolyphosphate and the characterization results confirmed their semi-crystalline structure with particle size of 262 nm. Results: GC-MS analysis of MEx identified twenty bioactive compounds in MEx. By using disc diffusion method, all treatments showed significant antibacterial activity ( P = 0.0004 ) against different bacterial strains. MEx exhibited the highest antibacterial activity against E. coli (2021), P. aeruginosa (101 and 310), S. aureus (723) and K. pneumoniae (310) with a zones of inhibition 20.3 ± 0.3 mm, 29.6 ± 0.6 mm, 18.6 ± 0.3 mm, 18.6 ± 0.3 mm and 22.6 ± 0.3 mm respectively. MCs showed the highest antibacterial activity against E. coli strains (1876 and 1609) with zones of inhibition 31.6 ± 0.6 mm and 20.3 ± 0 mm. The antibacterial activity of CNPs was comparatively lower than that of MEx and MCs. In antifungal susceptibility tests, all treatments were significantly sensitive to both Aspergillus molds ( P = 0.0001 ). However, MEx showed the highest antifungal activity against A. flavus and A. niger with zones of inhibition 23.3 ± 0.3 mm and 23 ± 0.5 mm. Findings: The findings suggest that these cost-effective medications would be very effective in preventing infections in the body. Additionally, they have minimal side effects. Further research and development could lead to new, effective medications based on these agents.