ANTIBACTERIAL AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF PIGMENTS FROM Staphylococcus sp. AND Rhodotorula sp.

Microbial pigments offer promising avenues for various applications due to their better biodegradability and higher compatibility with the environmentt. Microbial pigments have numerous therapeutic properties like anticancer, antiproliferation and immunosuppression. Pigment producing probiotic microbes were isolated from curd and rice water. The isolated pigment producing Rhodotorula sp. and Staphylococcus sp. were characterised and evaluated for their antibacterial activity by disc diffusion assay and antioxidant activity by DPPH methods. Based on the morphological, biochemical and molecular characterisation, the unknown orange pigment producer was identified as Rhodotorula sp., while yellow pigment producer was identified and confirmed as Staphylococcus sp. Both the isolates demonstrated antibacterial and antioxidant activities, suggesting the therapeutic efficiency of microbial pigments.