Antibacterial activity of Vitellaria paradoxa seed oil extract (shear butter) and honey against bacterial pathogens causing wound infection

Abstract

This research was carried out to evaluate the antibacterial activity of Vitellaria paradoxa seed oil extract (shea butter) and honey against bacterial pathogens causing wound infection. The pathogens used for this study were Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumonia, Escherichia coli, Streptococcus pyogenes, and Proteus mirabilis. Wound swabs were collected from Ladoke Akintola University Teaching Hospital Ogbomosho (LTH) and processed for microbiological assessment. Actively growing culture (0.1 ml) containing 1 x 10⁶ cfu/ml of each bacterium pathogen used was introduced into Petri dishes and 20 ml of molten agar added. The antibiotic sensitivity discs (Abtek Biological Ltd, UK) consisting of different antibiotics namely, ampicillin (10μg), amplicox (10μg), augmentin (30μg), gentamycin (10μg), metronidazole (10μg), ofloxacin (5μg), and tetracycline (10μg) were placed on the solidified agar surface. The plates were incubated aerobically at 37°C for 24 hours. After this period, the diameter of the zone of inhibition of each antibiotics disc and agar well diffusion of Honey was measured. Data were analyzed using ANOVA at p<0.05. Honey produced clear zones of inhibition ranging from 12 to 36 mm against the tested bacterial isolates, while Vitellaria paradoxa seed oil extract (shea butter) also produced clear zones of inhibition ranging from 6 to 12 mm against the tested bacterial isolates. The Minimum inhibitory concentration of honey ranged from 12.5 to 25μg/ml on the bacterial isolates for different honey samples which were obtained from various markets (Owode honey, Saki honey, Tede honey, and Ojaoba honey), while the Minimum inhibitory concentration of shea butter ranged from 25 to 100% on the bacterial isolates for different shea butter samples gotten from diverse sources (Owed shea butter, Saki shea butter, Tede shea butter, and Ojaoba shea butter). The minimum bactericidal concentration of the honey samples on the tested wound isolates ranged from 25 to 100 μg/ml, while the minimum bactericidal concentration of the shea butter samples ranged from 50 to 100 μg/ml. The seed oil extracts of Vitellaria paradoxa and honey samples used in this study have demonstrated antimicrobial activities against the tested clinical isolates thus justifying their use in traditional medicine for treating different diseases especially wound infections associated with the tested organisms, as they also serve as new and cheaper alternatives for treatment for wounds.