In-vitro Sensitivity of Selected Enteric Bacteria to Extracts of Allium sativum L.

Abstract

Garlic has been used throughout all of recorded history for culinary and medicinal reasons. The portion of the plant most often consumed is an underground storage structure called a head. The antimicrobial effects of Allium sativum (garlic) against some bacterial isolates were investigated using the agar diffusion well method. Standard methods were used to carry out the investigation. Photochemical analyses of the ethanolic extracts showed the presence of many secondary metabolites such as saponins, tannins, alkaloid steroids and glycosides. The minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration of the agent (garlic) was determined for both the aqueous and ethanolic extract. The ethanolic extract was more effective than the aqueous extract, inhibiting all the test organisms. While the aqueous extracts was effective against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Garlic extracts are strictly broad-spectrum with immune boosting phytonutrients from Allium ‘family’. Further research will need to be done to carry out the purification of the active ingredients which have potential for combating human disease. Also, toxicological studies need to be evaluated.