Abstract
Antibacterial activity of methanol, n-hexane and water extracts of seeds and bark of Moringa oleifera and Moringa ovalifolia was conducted. The causative agents of common bacterial infections that are thought to cause water-borne diseases, namely, Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis, and Bacillus cereus were chosen for the study. The paper-disc diffusion method was used with treatments arranged in a completely randomized design and replicated four times. The M. oleifera extracts showed more inhibitory effect than those of M. ovolifolia. The conventional antibiotic Ampicilin generally showed higher inhibitory effect than the extracts of both M. oleifera and M. ovalifolia. The inhibitory effect varied depending on the solvent used. The n-hexane extracts of both seeds and bark of M. ovalifolia and M. oleifera had almost the same inhibition activities (6 ± 1 mm mean inhibition zones) on B. cereus, E. coli and E. faecalis. The n-hexane extract generally gave lower antibacterial activities than those of the other solvents for seeds and back. The results of the study showed that M. oleifera and M. ovalifolia had a degree of antibacterial properties against the selected test organisms that cause water borne diseases.
Highlights
Treating water that contains pathogenic bacteria, viruses, protozoa, parasites and sediment is a serious challenge in both developed and developing countries
The results show that M. oleifera seeds and bark powder extracted with methanol has a greater antibacterial activity than M. ovalifolia seeds and bark powder extracted with the same solvent
Powder extracted with n-hexane and water was consistent but M. oleifera n-hexane and water extracts gave the highest inhibition zones than M. ovalifolia n-hexane and water extracts
Summary
Treating water that contains pathogenic bacteria, viruses, protozoa, parasites and sediment is a serious challenge in both developed and developing countries. Most people in these areas use water directly from available and often contaminated sources without any treatment and are exposed to many water-related diseases since polluted water is normally an important vehicle for the spread of disease. The frequency of life-threatening infections caused by consumption of untreated water has increased all over the world and become an important cause of mortality in developing countries [1] [2]. The cost of treatment, especially in developing countries, is increasingly becoming beyond the reach of most water supply agencies leading to production of low-quality water [3]. Due to unavailability and high costs of water treatment chemicals, households in developing countries, such as Namibia use unpurified water leading to increased cases of water borne diseases [8]
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