Screening of Antibacterial Activity of Moringa oleifera Against Pathogenic Clostridium spp.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the in vitro antibacterial activity of edible parts of Moringa oleifera against spore-forming bacteria associated with diarrhea such us Clostridium difficile and Clostridium perfringens . Ethanolic, methanolic, aqueous and acetone extracts in several presentations of M. oleifera (fresh leaf, leaf powder, whole seed powder and seed husk powder) were obtained. Broth microdilution method was used to analyze the activity and to determine the Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations (MICs) and the Minimum Bactericidal Concentrations (MBCs). A two-fold serial dilution of each extract was tested against C. difficile and C. perfringens during 48 h under anaerobic conditions. The broth microdilution analyzes revealed that red-stemmed leaf showed the lowest MICs (ranging from 3.9 to125 &mug/mL), followed by whole seed (MICs 29.29-1875 &mug/mL), green-stemmed leaf (MICs 39-2500 &mug/mL) and seed husk (MICs 390.6-1562.5 &mug/mL). The MBCs values were 1000-2000 &mug/mL for red-stemmed leaf fresh, 1250-10000 &mug/mL for green-stemmed leaf fresh, 6250-12500 &mug/mL for red-stemmed leaf powder, 2500-25000 &mug/mL for whole seed and 25000 &mug/mL for seed husk. The study revealed that leaves and seeds in different concentrations, irrespective of their presentation, inhibited the growth of the tested strains to varying degrees depending on the solvent employed in extraction. Therefore, it may be concluded that M. oleifera may be a potential source for antimicrobial molecule (s) against pathogenic Clostridium spp.