Antibacterial Potential of Pod Extracts of Gum Arabic Tree (Acacia nilotica)

Abstract

This study was designed to determine the antibacterial potential of Gum Arabic Tree (Acacia nilotica) pod extract
on some pathogenic bacteria which could have health implications. Powdered pods of Acacia nilotica were
extracted with ethanol and distilled water separately. The extracts were tested for antibacterial activities against the
test isolates using Agar Well Diffusion method. The extracts were further subjected to qualitative phytochemical
screening to detect secondary metabolites present using standard procedures. The minimum inhibitory and
minimum bactericidal concentrations of the extracts were also detected using standard procedures. The
phytochemical screening revealed certain metabolites (steroids, saponins, terpenoids, tannins, flavonoids, and
alkaloids) in the ethanol and aqueous extracts, except for steroids, which were present only in ethanol extract. The
result of the sensitivity test showed that ethanol pod extract produced the highest and least zone of inhibition against
Pseudomonas aeruginosa (22 mm) and S. typhi (15 mm) respectively at 50mg/ml while the aqueous extract of the
pod exhibited activity against S. typhi (20 mm) and E. coli (12 mm) at 50 mg/ml. This showed that the A. nilotica
pod extracts could serve as potential antibacterial agents against pathogenic bacteria.