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IN VITRO ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF CLOVE AGAINST GRAM NEGATIVE BACTERIA

SABAHAT SAEED AND PERWEEN TARIQ

Abstract: A study was carried out to investigate the potential of using aqueous infusion, decoction and essential oil of clove (Syzygium aromaticum) as natural antibacterial agents against 100 isolates belonging to 10 different species of Gram –ve bacilli viz., Escherichia coli (36), Proteus mirabilis (6), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (10), Enterobacter aerogenes (5), Klebsiella ozaenae (2), Klebsiella pneumoniae (24), Serratia marcescens (4), Salmonella typhi (3), Shigella dysentriae (5) and Vibrio cholerae (5). The screening was performed by standard disc diffusion method. The aqueous infusion and decoction of clove exhibited maximum activity against P. aeruginosa with 10.43 mm mean diameter of zone of inhibition ± 1.76 standard deviation and 10.86 mm mean diameter of zone of inhibition ± 1.46 standard deviation respectively. Essential oil of clove exhibited maximum activity against V. cholerae with 23.75 mm mean diameter of zone of inhibition ± 3.03 standard deviation. K. ozaenae, K. pneumoniae, S. marcescens, S. typhi, S. dysentriae and V. cholerae were found resistant to aqueous infusion and decoction while essential oil showed strong antibacterial activity against all bacterial isolates tested.

Department of Microbiology, University of Karachi, Karachi-75270, Pakistan.