ANTIMICROBIAL ASSESSMENT OF METHANOLIC EXTRACT OF Tradescantia spathacea ROOTS ON Salmonella spp AND Escherichia coli

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance is a very serious occurrence that has a negative impact on Humans. Over the years, micro-organisms have developed resistance to the majority of the antibiotics that we have now. This is the reason why scientists are looking for new, and more improved antibiotics, especially those that are not of chemical origin. Plants have phytochemical constituents that have been used in the olden days as herbs to treat various diseases and infections. The phytochemicals of plants are of biological origin and as such antibiotics gotten from plants do not have chemical side effects. Tradescantia spathaceais a decorative plant that has some antimicrobial properties and has been used in ancient times to treat some diseases and infections. Although the leaves of this plant has been exploited, the root has not been studied, to determine its antimicrobial activity. This research was conducted to determine the antimicrobial activity of Tradescantia spathacearoots. In this study, Minimum Inhibitory Concentration was used to determine the antimicrobial activity of the plant extract. This study showed that, E. coli had no zone of inhibition, therefore, it was resistant to the plant extract. However, Salmonella spp had a zone of inhibition at 100% (800µl), at 75% (600µl) 50% (400µl) strong zone of inhibition and at 25% (200µl). The plant extract showed that it is effective against Salmonella species, and it could be a potential antimicrobial therapy for treating Salmonella related illnesses.