Short Communication
Ibrahim, Z.Y
Abstract
Aim: This study investigated the use of Jatropha curcas as a medicinal plant used in treating many microbial infections. The lack of scientific standardization and possible therapeutic alternatives againstantibiotic resistant bacterial infections indicates a strong need for continuous effort to validate the use of plant material as alternative theraphy regimens with similar or higher antibiotic beneficial properties.The phytochemical analysis was carried out on aqueous and ethanolic extracts of stem bark, root bark and leaves of the plant using standard methods. Findings: The antibacterial potency was initially determined by the agar well diffusion method for both crude extracts and fractions of jatropha curcas followed by quantitative evaluation of antibacterial activity by Minimum inhibitory concentration and Maximum bactericidal concentration. Root extract of Jatropha curcas was observed to be more effective than the stem bark and leave extracts due to its ability to inhibit all the test bacteria. It recorded the highest antibacterial activity with mean inhibition zone diameter ranging from 2.67±0.00-15.33±0.00 mm against S. aureus with ethanolic root and 1.4±0.0014.7±0.00 mm with aqueous root. Root ethanol hexane recorded the highest activity with fractions on S. aureus isolate with mean inhibition zone of 31.7 mm ± 0.1 with the lowest from root ethanol aqueous fraction with 1.56 mm± 0.1 at a concentration of 100 mg/ml respectively. The plant extract had no activity on E. coli. This study has proven the effectiveness and efficacy of Jatropha curcas in inhibiting the growth of S. aureus, with slight or no activity on E. coli pathogenic bacteria of clinical origin.