ABSTRACT

This study was carried out to investigate the antibacterial potential of the aqueous and methanol extract of Moringa oleifera leaves  on some target organisms. This study was carried out using the aqueous and methanol extracts of Moringa oleifera leaves. The Both extracts were used to test for antibiotics sensitivity using the agar well diffusion method. The organisms (Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterococcus faecalis, Salmonella typhi) were inoculated in a prepared Mueller Hinton Agar by spread method and a cork borer of diameter 6mm was used to make wells on the agar.`The results evaluated by zones of inhibition showed that  methanolic extract at 500mg/ml, 250mg/ml and 125mg/ml were  inhibitory to staphylococcus arueus (12.0+1.41mm, 10.5 + 0.71mm, 8.0+0.0mm),  Escherichia  coli (11.5+0.71mm, 9.5 + 0.71mm, 7.5+0.71mm),respectively. Salmonella typhi was inhibited at 500mg/ml and 250mg/ml only with inhibition zone of (11.0+1.41mm and 8.5 + 0.71mm) respectively. Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterococcus faecalis were the least susceptible. Inhibition was observe at concentration of 500mg/ml with the zone of inhibition at (9.5+0.71mm and 9.0+0.0mm), respectively. The aqueous extract showed inhibition only at concentration of 500mg/ml on  staphylococcus aureus (9.0+1.41mm), Escherichia coli (10.5+1.41) and Salmonella typhi (8.5+0.71mm) whereas, Pseudomonas aerouginosa and Enterococcus faecalis were not susceptible. Minimum inhibitory concentration was also carried out using the Mueller Hinton broth and the control was Gentamycin. The result obtained for aqueous extract, MIC/MBC was at 250mg/ml  concentration for other isolates except E. coli that had MIC at 125mg/ml, and its MBC at 250mg/ml. For the methanolic extract, MIC and MBC result for all isolates were 125mg/ml  and 250mg/ml  respectively. The results revealed that the methanol extract has more inhibitory effect than the aqueous extract. The phytochemical ansalysis result revealed that Alkaloid, Saponin, Terpenoid, and Flavonoid are in the composition of 0.96%, 1.84%, 1.69%, and 0.46% respectively. The consequences of this study suggests that Moringa oleifera  leaves has a bactericidal potential which can be used to discover antibacterial agent for developing new pharmaceuticals to control studied bacterial pathogens responsible for illnesses.