This study was designed to evaluate the effect of Aloe barbadensis Miller (Aloe vera) and Cymbopogon citratus (Lemongrass) extracts on pathogenic bacteria isolated from surface and ground water samples in Port Harcourt Metropolis. Samples of Aloe vera and Lemon grass were collected, pre-treated and extracted using n-hexane and ethanol respectively. The plant extracts were qualitatively and quantitatively assessed for their phytochemical properties using standard methods. Surface and ground water samples were collected and characterized for their physico-chemical and microbiological properties using standard methods. The pathogenic bacteria isolated from the water samples were subjected to antibacterial susceptibility tests using selected commercial antibiotics and the plant extracts respectively. Result revealed the presence of eight phytochemicals namely alkaloid, flavonoid, saponnin, tannin, glycoside, steroid, phenol and terpene in both hexane and ethanol extracts of the Lemongrass and Aloe vera with varying degrees. Four bacterial pathogens namely Streptococcus spp., Shigella spp., Pseudomonas spp. and Staphylococcus spp. were identified in the water samples. All of them were susceptible to both hexane and ethanol extracts of the Lemongrass and Aloe vera plants with zones of inhibition ranging from 10.2 mm to 14.5 mm and 16.7 mm to 20.9 mm and 4.2 mm to 9.5 mm and 6.7 mm to 11.2 mm, respectively. Commercial antibiotics such as Ciproflox, Streptomycin, Chloramphenicol and Cuntamycin were active against all the bacteria pathogens, with zones of inhibition ranging from 15.7 mm to 21.2 mm, 13.2 mm to 21.3 mm, 3.1 mm to 14.5 mm and 3.3 mm to 14.7 mm, respectively. The antibacterial action of ethanol extract of the Lemongrass on all four pathogens was comparable to that of commercial antibiotics such as Ciproflox, Streptomycin and Ofloxacin which also demonstrated higher antibacterial action on the pathogens. This study has revealed the usefulness of Aloe vera and Lemongrass plants in phyto-antibiotics and phyto-medicine.
In this study, health risk assessment of well water from twelve communities grouped into upland and riverine in Rivers State was carried out in several categories such as uses of water, skin infections and health assessment via questionnaire distribution. Malaria was recorded to be the most common disease related to water. Furthermore, water samples were collected and analysed for physiochemical, biochemical and pathological characteristics. The average pH was 7.52, an indication of neutrality. Several species of bacterial and fungal organisms were isolated and identified. The total heterotrophic bacteria (THB), total fungal and total coliform counts ranged from 14.0x104cfu/ml to 100.0x104cfu/ml, 3.2x103cfu/ml to 7.4x103cfu/ml and 4 cfu/100 ml to ≥2400 cfu/100 ml respectively. Morphological and biochemical observations revealed the presence of the following organisms: Aeromonas sp., Alcaligenes sp., Bacillus sp. Citrobacter sp. E. coli, Enterobacter sp, Klebsiella sp., Micrococcus sp., Proteus sp., Salmonella sp., Sarcina sp., Shigella sp., Staphylococcus sp., Streptococcus sp. and Vibrio sp. Staphylococcus sp. and Streptococcus sp. had the least percentage incidence of 8.3% while Vibrio sp had the most incidence of 100% in all the well water sampled. Well water is a source of pathogenic bacteria; hence, it is recommended that consistent water quality studies should be conducted on all the well water in the communities at least once in a year. Well water should also be treated before use to avoid the outbreak of water borne diseases.
The antimicrobial and antihelminthic activities of beetroot plant was analyzed in this work against some bacterial isolates of clinical significance, the isolates were obtained from the University of Port Harcourt teaching hospital and tested against the beetroot extract. The disc diffusion and well in agar technique was used for the antimicrobial analyzes and the bacteria isolates used include Escherichia coli, Bacillus sp., Klebsiella sp. Salmonella sp., Staphylococcus auerus and Candida albicans. The juice extract of the beetroot ample proved to be more effective on the bacterial isolates than the ethanol extract; the extract was effective against Staphylococcus sp., Bacillus sp. and Escherichia coli but wasn’t effective on Salmonella sp. and Klebsiella sp. the beetroot samples was less effective on the worm. The phytochemical compounds present in beetroot samples include saponin, tannins, alkaloids, flavonoids, cardiac glycosides. From the result obtained in this study, it shows that beetroot plant is very nutritional and can serve as a source of a variety of nutrients and natural occurring chemical compounds.
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