Abstract

ETHANOLIC EXTRACT OF MILLETIA FERRUGINEA INHIBITS GROWTH OF SHIGELLA SPECIES

Sayani Marick, Debasmita Chatterjee, Manash Kumar Choudhury and Satadal Das*

ABSTRACT

The plant Milletia ferruginea is a large tree and is widely distributed all over Ethiopia. It is commonly known as ‘Berebera’. Literature survey revealed that this plant has wide application against skin infection and is also effective against storage insect pests. This study was done to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of this African medicinal plant against Shigella species. Seeds of the plant M. ferruginea was extracted using absolute alcohol and studied for their antimicrobial activities against Shigella species which cause bacillary dysentery in human beings, particularly in children with high mortality and morbidity. The antimicrobial activities were tested using agar well diffusion and 96 well microtitre plate method. Extracts of the plant showed antimicrobial activities against Shigella spp. The seed extract inhibited the growth of Shigella boydii, S. dysenteriae MDR, S. flexneri 2a MDR, S. flexneri 4a showing the MIC value within the range of 0.32mg/mL to 2.6mg/mL. This finding indicates its possible future use as antimicrobial agent against Shigella sp.

Keywords: Milletia ferruginea. Shigella sp., antibacterial activity, minimum inhibitory concentration.