Evaluation of the antimicrobial and wound healing properties of cream formulations of Moringa oleifera aqueous leaf extract

Abstract

This paper is aimed at investigating the antimicrobial and wound healing properties of cream formulations of Moringa oleifera aqueous leaf extract. Moringa oleifera leaves were air-dried, pulverized and extracted with water using Soxhlet apparatus. Phytochemical analysis of the extract was done using standard procedures. Antimicrobial tests were performed on the extract and cream formulations of the extract using the agar well diffusion method. The wound healing property of the cream formulations was then evaluated using excision wound model. The results show that the leaf extract contains alkaloids, saponins, flavonoids, reducing sugars, carbohydrates, oil/fats but no tannin. The extract was found to inhibit various microorganisms such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans at concentrations of 800 mg/ml and 600 mg/ml with the greatest activity against Escherichia coli (IZD = 9 mm and 7 mm respectively). The antimicrobial property of the cream formulations (1, 2 and 5% concentrations) was substantially greater than that of the aqueous extract which could suggest a synergistic interaction between the aqueous extract and cream base. The cream formulations showed greatest activity against Aspergillus niger (IZD = 16 mm at 5% concentration). Results from the wound healing studies show that the cream containing 2% aqueous extract showed the greatest wound contraction while the cream containing 5% aqueous extract showed the fastest contraction. Overall, the cream formulations showed better wound contraction than the negative control (blank cream) but did not outperform the positive control (1% Cicatrin cream formulation). This study shows the potentials of Moringa oleifera leaf as a good antimicrobial and wound healing agent, most likely due to its phytoconstituents and could be employed as standard topical antimicrobial and wound healing creams