Antimicrobial activity of <i>Phoenix dactylifera</i> (date palm) on some selected members of enterobacteriaceae

Abstract

The use of medicinal plants in Africa for therapeutic purpose has been quite a common practice. However, most of these plants are used indiscriminately without proper knowledge of their chemical constituents, spectrum of activity, inhibitory or bactericidal concentrations. Moreover, the widespread and often indiscriminate use of antimicrobial drugs has resulted in resistance of microbes to specific antibiotic treatments. In view of this, the antibacterial activity of Phoenix dactylifera was determined using agar well diffusion method. A total of 2.43g and 2.12g of the methanolic extract from the original weight of 25g was recovered from the leaf and fruit of Phoenix dactylifera respectively. The leaf extracts showed greater antibacterial effects against Klebsiella pneumoniae with zones of inhibition measuring 34mm, 28mm, 26mm and 24mm at the concentrations of 40mg/ml, 30mg/ml, 20mg/ml and 10mg/ml while Salmonella typhi had zones of 20mm and 14 mm at 40mg/ml and 30mg/ml. However, the fruit extract inhibited the growth of all the test organisms at varying concentrations with the highest zone recorded against Salmonella typhi (38mm) at 40mg/ml. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) analysis also confirmed the antibacterial effect of these extracts. Phytochemical analysis also showed the presence of Saponins, Tannins, Alkaloids, Steroids, Phenols and Flavonoids. The findings of this research suggest that infection by members of Enterobacteriaceae can be treated using Phoenix dactylifera fruit and leaves as an alternative to conventional antibiotics.

Keywords: Date Palm, Enterobacteriaceae, Salmonella, Phytochemical