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Updated: Nov 25, 2025

Methods to Inhibit Bacterial Pyomelanin Production and Determine the Corresponding Increase in Sensitivity to Oxidative Stress
Published on: August 31, 2015
Melanin pigments extracted from horsehair as antibacterial agents
Tahmineh Rahmani Eliato1, Joshua T Smith2, Zhen Tian1
1Department of Chemical Engineering, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA. youngjo.kim@unh.edu.
Abstract:
Here we present the important findings related to biologically derived pigments for potential use as antibacterial agents. Melanin biopigments extracted from Equus ferus hair exhibit a homogeneous elliptical microstructure with highly ordered semicrystalline features. Spectroscopic analysis indicates that melanin contains a high degree of redox active catechol groups, which can produce reactive oxygen species. The antibacterial activity of melanins was tested by incubating Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus with melanins. The results showed 100% bacterial growth inhibition within 4 h. This finding suggests that melanin pigments may serve as naturally occurring antibacterial agents with unique redox chemistry and reactive oxygen species generation capability.
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