Research Article
Ibrahim S Abdulkadir, Idris Ab
Abstract
This work aimed to investigate the phytochemical compositions and in-vitro antimicrobial activities of ethanolic extracts of Moringa oleifera Lam against isolates of Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Candida albicans. This involved phytochemical screening and antimicrobial testing of ethanol extracts of Moringa oleifera using basic pharmacognostic procedures and agar well diffusion assay on test pathogens respectively. Alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins and tannins were detected in all extracts with the exception of root which was devoid of saponins and the seeds which contained no tannins. The agar well diffusion assay showed that M. oleifera extracts showed antimicrobial activities against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans. Minimum Inhibitory concentrations (MIC) values were (25 mg/ml and 50 mg/ml for the root), (100 mg/ml for the seed) and (50 mg/ ml and 100 mg/ml for the pod) against the three organisms. The leaf extracts was active against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus but not against Candida albicans. Standard Ciprofloxacin and Ketoconazole (controls) inhibited the test organisms by 100% at 50 mg/ml and 25 mg/ml concentrations respectively. The leaf extracts had the greatest antimicrobial activity against test bacteria (12 mm at 50 mg/ml) while bark extract had the least activity (8 mm at 50 mg/ml). However, only pod extract showed significant antifungal activity (10 mm at 50 mg/ml) while other extracts at the same concentration, showed no antifungal activity. Findings from this study revealed that ethanolic extracts of Moringa oleifera Lam exhibit significant antimicrobial activities on test pathogens and thus suggests need to refine and standardize these extracts as alternative source of antimicrobial medicines.