Determining the antibacterial activity of Okra (Abelmoschus Esculentus) seed extracts on Pseudomonas Aeruginosa.

Abstract

Abelmoschus esculentus, commonly known as Okra, is traditionally used in the treatment of cuts, wounds and boils. In this study, the antibacterial activity of the aqueous and ethanolic extracts of the seeds of Okra was determined against Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates. Airdried, pulverized samples of Okra seeds were separately extracted using 70% analytical grade ethanol and distilled water, respectively. 500mg of the concentrated crude extract were separately dissolved in 1ml of dimethylsulfoxide to obtain ethanolic and aqueous test samples which were compared against 250mg/ml ciprofloxacin as a positive control. The antibacterial activity of the extracts was determined using agar-well diffusion method on Muller-Hinton agar on which Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolate was surface-spread. The diameter of the inhibition zone was compared to the positive control and the minimum inhibitory concentration of the extracts was determined. The isolates of P. aeruginosa were highly sensitive to the positive control, ciprofloxacin, with inhibition zone diameter of 44mm (significantly higher than ≥21mm) whereas they were only partially sensitive to both the ethanol and aqueous extracts, with inhibition zones of 14mm and 10mm diameter, respectively. The results of this study showed that Abelmoschus esculentus seed extracts are not effective for use against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, as there sensitivity was very low compared to standard or positive control, ciprofloxacin.