Antimicrobial activitiy of the fruits essential oil of Xylopia aethiopica [Dun.] A. Rich

Abstract

The antimicrobial activity of the fruits essential oil of Xylopia aethiopica (family: Annonaceae) was tested against six standard bacteria: Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and against two standard fungi namely Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans using the Agar plate diffusion method. The fruits essential oil of Xylopia aethiopica dissolved in methanol (1:10) showed high activity (21 mm) against the Gram positive Staphylococcus aureus and Gram negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa. It also showed moderate activity (16 mm) against the Gram positive Bacillus subtilis and against the Gram negative E. coli (15 mm), K. pneumoniae (17 mm) and P. vulgaris (16 mm). The essential oil also showed high activity (19 mm) against A. niger and (21 mm) against C. albicans. The fruits oil was also tested against sixty clinical isolates, collected randomly from Khartoum and Soba Hospitals. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of the essential oil against standard bacteria were determined using the agar diffusion method. The antimicrobial activity of the reference drugs were determined against the standard organisms and compared with the antimicrobial activity of the tested oil.

Keywords: Xylopia aethiopica, fruits, essential oil, antimicrobial activity.