Antimicrobial Activities of Jatropha curcas and Myristica fragrans Seeds Extracts Against Pathogenic Isolates from Barber Clippers in Shomolu Local Council Development Area, Lagos State

Abstract

There are several communicable diseases of the scalp that are of concern in barbering and this is because of the re-use of barbing clippers without appropriate disinfection or sterilization. Barber’s clippers have been identified as a possible vehicle for pathogen transmission. This study investigated the comparison of antimicrobial potential and minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of aqueous and ethanol extracts of Physic nut (Jatropha curcas) and nutmeg (Myristica fragrans) seeds against isolated microorganisms viz: Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Micrococcus, Proteus spp., Lactobacillus spp., Escherichia coli, Streptococcus pyogenes, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Penicillium fellutanum, and Mucor spp. from the surface of the cutting edge of the barber’s clipper from various barbing salons in Shomolu Local Council Development Area of Lagos State using agar well diffusion technique and the Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institute guidelines respectively. Aqueous and ethanol extracts of J. curcas and M. frangrans showed antimicrobial activity against almost all tested isolates. MICs of aqueous extracts of both seeds were between 12.5 and 50 mg/ml of extract in all susceptible isolates, while MICs of ethanol extracts was between 12.5 and 100 mg/ml. The ethanol extract of J. curcas had the highest antimicrobial activity of all the extracts, indicating it is the most potent antimicrobial for barber’s clipper disinfection.