Exploring the Efficacy of Medicinal Plants (Moringa Oleifera and Tamarindus Indica Seeds) in the Treatment of Well Water in Two Major Cities in Southwestern Part of Nigeria, West Africa

Volume 3 - Issue 2

Oludare Temitope Osuntokun¹*, Thonda Oluwakemi Abike² and Adeleye Bukola Mary¹

Received:October 04, 2019;   Published:October 21, 2019

DOI: 10.32474/DDIPIJ.2018.03.000159

Full Text PDF

To view the Full Article   Peer-reviewed Article PDF

Abstract

Water quality and treatment is becoming of great concern, especially in developing country like Nigeria where water quality is poor and not properly treated. It is in this light that this research was carried out to confirm the effectiveness of powdered extracted from matured dried Moringa oleifera seed which is commonly available in most rural communities in Nigeria and Tamarindus indica seed which is mostly available in the Northern part of Nigeria. The aim of this study is to determine the physiochemical properties, microbial load, and effectiveness of the natural coagulant (Moringa oleifera and Tamarindus indica seed extracts) on the collected water samples. Seed extracts were prepared and pour plate techniques was carried out to determine the microbial load before and after introduction of the seed extracts, colonial and biochemical characteristics were used in identification of the microbial isolates. Physicochemical properties of the water sample and secondary metabolites (phytochemical) constituents of the seed extracts were also determined. The pH of the water sample ranges from 6.0 to 7.7, the temperature ranges from 30 to 31°C and turbidity range from 4.6 NTU to 15 NTU for alum, 9.0 NTU to 18.6 NTU for Tamarindus indica and 5.3 NTU to 15 NTU for Moringa oleifera. The bacterial count of the water samples ranges from 0.02 x 102 to 0.75 x 102cfu/ml. The bacteria isolates were identified as Bacillus pumilus, Klebsiella pneumonia, Enterobacter aerogenes, Alcaligenes faecalis, Pseudomonas alcaligenes, Azotobacter chroococcum, Paracoccus denitrificans, Leuconostoc mesenteriodes, Bacillus cereus, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus and Micrococcus luteus. The results of this study showed that the application of Moringa oleifera and Tamarindus indica seeds as a coagulant improved water quality in terms of pH, turbidity and microbial load compared to the use of alum. However, M. oleifera was observed to be more effective in improving the water quality.

Keywords:Moringa oleifera; Tamarindus Indica Seeds

Abstract| Introduction| Methods| Results| Discussion| Conclusion| References|