Antibacterial Activity of <i>Citrus sinensis</i> and <i>Solanum lycopersicum</i> on Wound Isolated from Hospitals in Kaduna Metropolis Kaduna Nigeria

Abstract

The increasing failure of chemotherapeutics and antibiotic resistance exhibited by pathogenic microbial infectious agents has lead to the screening of several medicinal plants for their potential antimicrobial activity. The medicinal properties shown by different medicinal plants are due to the phytochemicals present in the plant. These phytochemicals are the most vital sources for the treatment of destructive diseases. Different phytochemicals have an extensive range of activities, which helps to enhance the immune system and give resistance against long term disease to protect the body from harmful pathogens. To determine the antibacterial activity of <i>Citrus sinensis</i> and <i>Solanum lycopersicum</i> on wound isolated from Hospitals in Kaduna Metropolis Kaduna Nigeria was the main purpose of this study. Ethanolic and aqueous extracts of powdered <i>C. sinensis</i> peel and fresh fruit of <i>S. lycopersicum</i> were used for the qualitative measurement of various phytochemicals present in these plants. The phytochemical screening of the extracts yielded positive results for carbohydrates, glycosides, cardiac glycosides, saponins, triterpene, tannins, flavonoids and alkaloids. Wound swab samples of patients from five (5) selected hospitals within Kaduna metropolis yielded <i>Bacillus cereus, Myroides Species</i> and <i>Staphylococcus lentus</i>. The <i>Citrus sinensis</i> ethanolic and aqueous extracts as well as the <i>Solanum lycopersicum</i> ethanolic and aqueous extracts demonstrated a broad spectrum antibacterial activity against the three pathogenic bacteria of wound origin. The result of the tests indicate that orange peel ethanolic extract, tomato aqueous extract and tomato ethanolic extract showed the highest inhibition against <i>Bacillus cereus</i> 22mm, 20mm and 15mm respectively while highest inhibition of orange peel aqueous extract 19.5mm was recorded for <i>Myroides spp</i>. Lowest inhibition of tomato aqueous extract and tomato ethanolic extract were recorded for <i>Staphylococcus lentus</i> 15.2mm and 13.17mm respectively. Orange peel ethanolic extract and orange peel aqueous extract did not inhibit the growth of <i>Bacillus cereus</i> and <i>Staphylococcus lentus</i> respectively. Extracts which exhibited high activities against one or several pathogenic wound isolates were further assayed for minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). The present study concludes that orange peel ethanolic, tomato aqueous and tomato ethanolic extracts showed highest antibacterial activity against the organism <i>Bacillus cereus</i> while orange peel aqueous showed highest antibacterial activity against <i>Myroide spp</i>. and there was a significant difference in the level of inhibition among the organisms isolated.