In vitro Antimicrobial and Antifungal Efficacy of Ethanol Crude Stem Bark Extract of Boswella dalzielle

Abstract

The efficacy of  Boswellia  dalzielii (Frankincense)  stem bark extract on some bacterial and fungal organisms was evaluated for its in-vitro antimicrobial activities against Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus   pyogenes,   Escherichia   coli,  Salmonella   gallinarium,   Aspergillus fumigatus  and  Candida  albicans.  The research  work was carried  out in Biochemistry  and Microbiology Laboratories of Federal College of Animal Health and Production Technology, National  Veterinary  Research  Institute,  Vom.  Well  diffusion  method  was  carried  out  on nutrient agar. MIC, MBC and MFC of the test organisms were carried out on nutrient broth. The phytochemistry revealed the presence of saponin, tannin, flavonoids, cardiac glycosides, steroids,  terpens  and  phenol  in ethanol  extracts  while  resin,  alkaloid  and  glycosides  were absent in hot water extracts. Alkaloid was also absent in ethanolic extract. The aqueous extract of the plant exhibited neither antibacterial nor antifungal effects against all test organisms used in the study while the ethanolic extract of the plant showed both antibacterial and antifungal effects on the study organisms. The  results  of this  study also showed  that  the  ethanolic  extract  of Boswellia  dalzielii  stem  bark has activity  against  all bacteria species used in the study (broad spectrum activity). For gram-negative and positive bacteria, Salmonella  gallinarium  and Staphylococcus  aureus were the most sensitive  while Escherichia  coli and Streptococcus pyogenes were the least respectively.  Candida albicans was more sensitive than Aspergillus fumigatus. It was concluded that the test organisms were susceptible to ethanol extracts of the plant and may be good source of antibiotics.