Antibacterial activity of Tamarindus indica leaf extract against Escherichia coli and Salmonella sp.

Abstract

Plants are naturally endowed with the intrinsic ability to produce many chemical compounds, which defend against bacteria, fungi, insects and larger animals. Humans harness these chemical compounds from various plants and use them as traditional remedies for many infectious and non-infectious diseases. One of such plants is Tamarindus indica (Tamarind), which is a tropical tree that is commonly grown in Africa. The phytochemicals of this plant have been extracted by many studies, and have been demonstrated to have antidiarrheal, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activities. In this study, we extracted phytochemicals from the leaves of T. indica and tested their antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp. The antibacterial susceptibility test of the extract revealed substantial zones of inhibition around agar wells containing different concentrations of the extract, indicating positive antibacterial activity against the test organisms. The results obtained here could play a vital role in the identification and development of druggable compounds for the treatment of bacterial infections.