| dc.description.abstract | Antimicrobial drug resistance has increased dramatically in the past years. Therefore,
the urge to discover alternative natural antimicrobial agents has increased. Several plant
extracts were found to be highly effective against the activity of these pathogens causing
food borne infections. This study aims to determine the antibacterial effect of aqueous
leaf extract of Cymbopogon citratus (Lemon grass) against Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC
25923) and Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922). Aqueous plant leaf extract was obtained by
maceration technique under sterile conditions. Antibacterial testing of the plant extract
was performed using the agar well-diffusion method, Minimum Inhibitory Concentration
(MIC), and Minimum Bactericidal Concentrations (MBC). Concentrations of 50mg/ml,
100mg/ml, 200mg/ml, and 400mg/ml plant extracts were prepared in 10% Dimethyl
sulfoxide (DMSO) solution and tested for the zone of inhibition. Vancomycin Intravenous
(IV) and Cefotaxime IV drugs were used as positive controls for S. aureus and E. coli
respectively. For the negative control 10% DMSO was used. According to the triplicates
results, a zone of inhibition was only observed in E. coli with 9.67 0.1 mm for 400
mg/ml, MIC of 400 mg/ml, and MBC of 800 mg/ml and zone of inhibition was not
observed for 50 mg/ml, 100 mg/ml, and 200mg/ml concentrations under the tested
conditions. Aqueous plant extracts at the studied concentrations failed to inhibit the
growth of Staphylococcus aureus. In conclusion, aqueous extractions of C. citratus leaf
possess antibacterial activity against E. coli and to produce new antibacterial compounds
using C. citratus plant will be an intriguing option. | en_US |
