Antimicrobial Activity of Methanolic Leaf Extract of Aloe vera plant against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Salmonella typhi.

Abstract

Some strains of Escherichia coli resistant to common antimicrobial agents has brought an urgent need to develop alternative antimicrobial drugs from herbs that are safe, easily affordable and can readily overcome the resistance of the pathogens. The antimicrobial activity of crude methanolic extracts of Aloe vera on some pathogens such as Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Salmonella typhi was carried out to ascertain it efficacy. The disc method was used to determine the zone of inhibition for the different microorganisms at different concentrations. It was observed that the extract had these zones of inhibition with S.aureus 25.0mm, P. Aeruginosa 22.0mm,E. coli, 5.0mm and S. typhi 4.0mmrespectively. In addition, the antimicrobial activity of the crude methanolic extract of the Aloe vera plant was compared to that of a standard antibiotic (tarivid) and it was observed that they both have closely related antimicrobial activity against the entire organisms except E. coli and S. typhi.