Antimicrobial Activity of Albizia lebbeck Leaf Extract on some Medically Important Bacteria

Abstract

The present study was conducted to investigate the antibacterial effect of Albizia lebbeck against selective human pathogens. Ethyl acetate, Absolute Ethanol and Aqueous solvents were used to extract the active components from the plant leaf. The antibacterial activity was studied against selective human pathogens viz., Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae Proteus mirabilis and Shigella spp. Among the different solvents, ethyl acetate extract showed greater antibacterial activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa (20mm), Proteus mirabilis (10mm), Klebsiella pneumoniae (15mm), Escherichia coli (12mm), Shigella spp. (17mm) and Salmonella typhi (10mm). The control antibiotics augmentin and Ofloxacin had diameter of inhibition ranging between 3mm to 7mm. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) obtained for ethyl acetate extract ranged from 50 to 400mg/ml for all bacterial isolates. The results from this study indicated that Shigella spp. was the most sensitive bacteria to the Albizia lebbeck leaf extract with the lowest MIC concentration of 50mg/ml. This study indicates that Albizia lebbeck has an important antimicrobial effect, which justifies its potential use in infectious diseases.