Antibacterial activity of bark extracts of Moringa oleifera Lam. against some selected bacteria.

The methanol, chloroform, ethyl acetate and aqueous bark extracts of Moringa oleifera were evaluated for their antibacterial activity against four bacteria viz. Staphylococcus aureus, Citrobacter freundii, Bacillus megaterium and Pseudomonas fluorescens using erythromycin as positive control. The activity was analyzed using paper disc diffusion method at different concentration of the extract. The study revealed that all the bark extracts irrespective of their types, in different concentrations inhibited growth of the test pathogens to varying degrees. Ethyl acetate extract showed maximum activity against all the bacterial strains followed in descending order by chloroform, methanol and aqueous extracts. The activity decreased with decrease in concentration of the extract. Staphylococcus aureus was found to be the most sensitive test organism to different extracts of Moringa oleifera. Looking to these results it may be concluded that M. oleifera may be a potential source for the treatment of different infections caused by the resistant microbes.