Abstract
The antibacterial activity of different extracts from the leaves of Ocimum gratissimum was tested against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi and Salmonella typhimurium, pathogenic bacteria that cause diarrhea. These extracts evaluated include cold water extract (CWE), hot water extract (HWE) and steam distillation extract (SDE). Only SDE has inhibitory effects on the selected bacteria and the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) ranged from 0.1% for S. aureus to 0.01% for E. coli and S. typhimurium, and 0.001% for S. typhi. Key words: Antibacterial activity, Ocimum gratissimum, diarrhea.
Highlights
During the last century, the practice of herbalism became mainstream throughout the world
In spite of great advances observed in modern medicine, plants still make an important contribution to health care
This is due to the recognition of the value of traditional medical systems, of Asian origin, and the identification of medicinal plants from indigenous pharmacopoeias, which have significant healing power
Summary
The practice of herbalism became mainstream throughout the world. The plant is commonly used in folk medicine to treat different diseases such as upper respiratory tract infections, A lot of work has been done to show the antimicrobial properties of this plant to some selected pathogens. O. gratissimum has been reported to be active against several species of bacteria and fungi (Nwosu and Okafor, 1995; Nakaruma et al, 1999).
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