Antimicrobial Susceptibility Pattern of Coconut Oil Extract on Selected Bacterial and Fungi

Volume 1 - Issue 3

Effiong Edet Bassey¹*, Gwana Dam Mohammed¹ and Okaro Cynthia²

Received: April 10, 2018;   Published: April 30, 2018

DOI: 10.32474/IPDOAJ.2018.01.000115

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Abstract

The study is aimed at evaluating the phytochemical content of coconut oil and determines the susceptibility pattern of coconut oil against bacteria and fungi. Coconut oil is a high value coconut product and some positive health benefits have currently been attributed to coconut intake such as its antioxidant and anticancer properties. Coconut oil has also been shown to have antibacterial and antifungal properties and can be used in the treatment of infectious diseases. The findings revealed that the coconut oil sample contains phytochemicals such as alkaloid, glycosides, Terpenoids and considered to be responsible for the many benefits attributed to coconut consumption. This susceptibility testing was conducted by agar diffusion method and the zones inhibition indicated the antimicrobial properties of coconut oil. The assey of antibacterial activity of standard bacteria organisms showed that Staphyloccus aureus had the highest susceptibility to coconut oil while Pseudomonas aeroginosa had the least. this was concluded from their average zones of inhibition 14.55mm (32%) for Staphyloccocus Aureus, 12.1mm (27%) for Streptocccus pneumonia, 10.95 (24%) for Escherichia coli and 7.7mm (17%) for Pseudomonas aeroginosa. Candida albicans had a higher susceptibility to coconut oil more than aspergillus in antifungal testing. This was also concluded from their average zones of inhibition 18.5mm (55%) for Candida albicans and 15.1mm (45%) for Aspergillus fumigatus. The utilization of coconut oil should be promoted as a functional food in Nigeria and the use of coconut seed flesh in our diets should be encouraged for health supporting functions.

Keywords: Antimicrobial; Susceptibility; Coconut Oil; Bacteria; Fungi

Abbrevations: NAFDAC: National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control; NA: Nutrient Agar; SDA: Sabaurauds dextrose agar; MA: MacConkey agar; NB: Nutrient broth; SDB: Sabaurauds dextrose broth; MB: MacConkey broth; AST:Antimicrobial Susceptiblity Testing

Abstract| Introduction| Materials and Methods| Controls| Phytochemical Analysis| Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (AST)| Results| Discussion| References|