A STUDY ON ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITIES OF ALOE VERA LEAVES, STEMS AND ROOTS ON SOME SELECTED ORGANISMS

Etusim, P.E1., Okafor, E.E1., Nwachukwu, N.C2.,
Melariri, P.E3., and Ogbonnaya C.I4.
1Unit of Medical Parasitology and Environmental Sciences,
2Unit of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology,
Faculty of Biological and Physical Sciences, Abia State University, Uturu.
3Division of Pharmacology, Department of Medicine, University of Cape Town Medical School
K45, Old Main Building Groote Hospital, Observatory 7925, South Africa.
4Unit of Plant Taxonomy and Ecotoxicology, Department of Plant Science and Biotechnology,
Faculty of Biological and Physical Sciences, Abia State University, Uturu.
E-mail: etusimp@gmail.com and eby4eva7000@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT
This study is provoked by the paucity of information on the
antibacterial or pharmacological activities of Aloe vera stems and roots.
The antibacterial activity of Aloe vera leaf, stem and root extracts on
three organisms (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi and Proteus
mirabilis) was investigated using agar well diffusion method. The Aloe
vera leaf extract proved to be most effective. Both Aloe vera leaf Cold
Water Extract (CWE) and Ethanol Crude Extract (ECE) demonstrated
significant antibacterial activity against the sampled organisms. CWE of
Aloe vera stem showed no antibacterial activity in the bacterial species
while ECE had antibacterial activity on Pseudomonas aeruginosa and
Proteus mirabilis. The root CWE and ECE only exhibited antibacterial
activity on Proteus mirabilis. The stems had no antibacterial activity on
Salmonella typhi and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The extract with the
highest antibacterial properties was ECE of Aloe vera roots. There is
therefore a need for the inclusion of Aloe vera roots in Aloe vera
antibacterial efficacy studies.