Abstract

INVESTIGATION OF ANTI-BACTERIAL AND ANTI-OXIDANT ACTIVITIES OF ALOE VERA PLANT AT ARBA MINCH, SOUTHERN ETHIOPIA

Tessema Derbe*, Belete Yilma and Shilashi Badasa

ABSTRACT

The first objective of this study was to investigate the anti bacterial activities of Aloe Vera using methanol extract of Aloe Vera gel (MEAG), ethanol extract of Aloe Vera gel (EEAG) and acetone extract of Aloe Vera gel (AEAG). Their inhibition zones were put in the order of AEAG (21-32 mm) > Combination (12-16 mm) > EEAG (11-14 mm) > MEAG (0-6 mm). The minimum inhibition zone was observed with methanol extract i.e. 6 mm for Bacillus subtilis and no clear zone is formed for E. coli rather than intermediate zone. Thus, both E. coli and bacillus bacterial strains are more resistive against MEAG than AEAG and EEAG. The second objective of this study was to evaluate the anti-oxidant activities of AVES using reducing and chelating activities of Aloe Vera. The inhibition efficiency of Aloe Vera extract (AVES) increased from 21.5% up to 75.56% on increasing of its concentration from 5 mg/Kg to 40 mg/Kg. This result indicates that Aloe extract provided a natural antioxidant by scavenging free radicals.

Keywords: Aloe Vera, ROS (reactive oxygen species), gram positive (GP), gram negative (GN), Aloe Vera extracts (AVES)