ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF MORINGA OLEIFERA LAM. LEAVES ON ENTERIC HUMAN PATHOGENS

ISITUA; C. C.; IBEH; I. N.; OLAYINKA; J. N.

Volume : VI, Issue : VIII, August - 2016

ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF MORINGA OLEIFERA LAM. LEAVES ON ENTERIC HUMAN PATHOGENS

Isitua, C. C. , Ibeh, I. N. , Olayinka, J. N.

Abstract :

 The rate at which bacteria are forming resistant to the commercial antibiotics meant for their prevention and cure is of great concern. In view of this, many research groups are now engaged in medicinal plant research because natural products of higher plants may give a new source of antimicrobial agents. This study was carried out to evaluate the antibacterial activity of extracts of Moringa oleifera leaves against some enteric human pathogens associated with diarrheal diseases. The susceptibility of the bacteria to M. oleifera leaf extracts was determined using agar diffusion and microoth dilution methods with treatments arranged in a completely randomized design and replicated four times. The minimal inhibitory concentration of the leaf extracts against these bacteria were determined. The susceptibility test carried out on Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Shigella sonnei, Shigella dysenteriae, Shigella flexneri, Shigella boydii, and Proteus mirabilis showed susceptibility of these isolates to different concentrations of the plant. The ethanol extract showed a higher potency. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for aqueous extract was 64µg/ml for S. dysenteriae, while that of the ethanolic extract was 32µg/ml for S. aureus, S. dysenteriae and S. boydii. Out of the ten bacterial pathogen tested, S. dysenteriae showed highest susceptibility, while S. flexneri showed the least susceptibility. The plant extracts showed comparable zones of inhibition to the conventional antibiotic (Kanamycin) used. The results of the study showed that M. oleifera leaf extracts could inhibit diarrheagenic bacteria which suggests that its use could be effective against diarrhea of bacterial origin.