Antibiotic activity of garlic, ginger and tamarind crude extracts on methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus

Abstract

Introduction: Due to the increased resistance to antibiotics by bacteria like MRSA, antibiotics which were once used to treat these become less effective. As a result, medicinal plants could be a reliable alternative for therapy. Garlic, Ginger and Tamarind have traditional dietary and medicinal applications as antimicrobial agents. A biologically active compound derived from these plants may increase the effectiveness of clearing infections therefore, the present study aims to determine the antibacterial effect of ethanol extracts of garlic, ginger and tamarind against isolates of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Methodology: Most recent clinical specimen stored at the laboratory’s biorepository were retrieved, reinoculated in Blood Agar and grown under favorable conditions. Susceptibility of bacteria to the antibiotics and plant extracts was determined by disc diffusion method on Mueller-Hinton Agar by measuring the diameter of the Zone of Inhibition (ZOI) Results: Findings revealed that all plant extracts exhibited significant inhibitory effect on the growth and proliferation of most of the MRSA isolates. The maximum antibacterial effect was exhibited by Garlic n=24 (ZOI = 16.25±2.72 mm, p =0.02) followed by Tamarind n=15 (ZOI = 8.21±1.33 mm, p = 0.00) and Ginger n=11 (ZOI = 7.46±1.02 mm, p = 0.01). As Cefoxitin (FOX) was used to determine resistance, the means and interquartile ranges in comparison to plant extracts were FOX (mean=14.33, IQR=2.25); Garlic (mean=16.25, IQR=3.25); Tamarind (mean=8.21, QR=2); Ginger (mean=7.46, IQR=1). Conclusions: There is significant antibacterial activity when plant extracts of garlic, ginger or tamarind are used against MRSA bacteria.