ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITIES OF COCOS NUCIFERA OIL AGAINST SOME CLINICAL ISOLATES

ABSTRACT

The indiscriminate use of synthetic products has led us to the state of resistance and also provoked the need for natural products. The products from coconut were known to have antibacterial, antiviral, antitumor activity from time immemorial. Hence this study is undertaken to find out the antibacterial activities of coconut oil against gram positive and gram negative bacteria isolated from clinical samples. Bacterial isolates (Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) were the challenge organisms included in the study. Coconut oil was collected, purified by filtration method and stored at 4 °C. Coconut oil was diluted to six different concentrations – 100%, 50% and 25%, `12.5%, 6.25% and 3.125%. It was tested against the challenge organisms using tube dilution method and Ager well diffusion. Varied zones of inhibition were observed by coconut oil against the pathogens. The results of the sensitivity test shows that not all concentrations of coconut oil had antimicrobial activity against the challenge bacteria. 100% concentration of coconut oil was found to inhibit all the challenge organisms (Staphylococcus, Pseudomonas, and E. coli) same as 50% concentration of coconut oil. However 25% concentration of coconut oil inhibited just one of the pathogens tested. The limitations in our study can further be overcome by using various extracts and with larger number of samples.

TABLE OF CONTENT

Title Page                                                                                                           i

Declaration                                                                                                         ii

Certification                                                                                                       iii

Dedication                                                                                                          iv

Acknowledgement                                                                                              v

Table of Content                                                                                                vi

List of Tables                                                                                                     ix

Abstract                                                                                                              x

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1     Background of the Study                                                                         1

1.3     Purpose of Study                                                                                      4

1.4     Scope of the Study                                                                                   5

1.5     Justification of the Study                                                                         5

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1     Cocos nucifera                                                                                         6

2.2     Traditional Uses of Coconut                                                                    8

2.3     Nutritional Values                                                                                    9

2.4     Medicinal Values                                                                                     10

2.4.1  As an Electrolyte                                                                                      10

2.4.2  Antidote Effect                                                                                         11

2.4.3  Antioxidant Effect                                                                                    11

2.4.4  Cardioprotective Effect                                                                            11

2.4.5  Antithrombotic Effect                                                                              12

2.4.6  Anti-atherosclerotic Effect                                                                       12

2.4.7  Hypolipidemic Effect                                                                               13

2.4.8  Anticholecystitic Effect                                                                           14

2.4.9  Antibacterial Activity                                                                              14

2.4.10 Anticaries Activity                                                                                   16

2.4.11 Antidermatophytic Activity                                                                     16

2.4.12 Antiviral Effect                                                                                        17

2.4.13 Antifungal effect                                                                                      17

2.4.14 Antiprotozoal activity                                                                              18

2.4.15 Anticancer Effect                                                                                     18

2.4.16 Immunostimulatory Effect                                                                       19

2.4.17 Antidiabetic Effect                                                                                   19

2.4.18 Hepatoprotective Activity                                                                        19

2.4.19 Disinfectant Activity                                                                                20

2.4.20 Insect Repellant                                                                                       20

2.5     Eco-friendly biodiesel                                                                              20

2.6     Hormone like effect                                                                                 21

2.7     Economic Importance of Coconut                                                           21

CHAPTER THREE

METHODOLOGY

3.1     Collection and Preparation of Samples                                                    23

3.2     Extraction of Coconut Oil                                                                        23

3.3     Media Preparation                                                                                    24

3.3.1. Macconkey agar                                                                                       24

3.3.2. Nutrient agar                                                                                            24

3.3.3. Simmons citrate agar                                                                                25

3.3.4. Bile esculin agar                                                                                       25

3.4     Antimicrobial Sensitivity Screening                                                        26

3.4.1  Tube dilution method                                                                               26

3.4.2  Agar well diffusion                                                                                  27

CHAPTER FOUR

RESULT

4.1     Sensitivity of bacterial Isolates to control Antibiotics                               28

4.2     Sensitivity of Isolates to Different Concentrations of Coconut Oil 29

CHAPTER FIVE

DISCUSSION CONCLUSSION AND RECOMMENDATION

5.1     Discussion                                                                                                35

5.2     Conclusion                                                                                               37

5.3     Recommendation                                                                                     37

References                                                                                                         38

LIST OF TABLES

Table 4.1     Sensitivity of isolates to gentamicin                                              28

Table 4.2     Antibiogram of coconut oil against S. aureus                                29

Table 4.3     Antibiogram of coconut oil against E. coli                                    30

Table 4.4     Antibiogram of coconut oil against P. aeruginosa                               31

Table 4.5     MIC, MBC of coconut oil against S. aureus                                 32

Table 4.6     MIC, MBC of coconut oil against E. coli                                      33

Table 4.7     MIC, MBC of coconut oil against P. aeruginosa                               34

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

The use of natural products with therapeutic properties is as ancient as human civilization and for a long time mineral, plants and animal products were the main source of drug (Rates, 2001). To trace the history of Phytotherapy is to trace the history of humanity itself (Ricardo, 2006). The discovery of the curative properties of certain plants must have sprung from instinct. Primitive people first used plants as food and, as result of this ingestion, the link with some plant properties would have been learnt. Medicinal plants were the main source of products used to sustain health until the nineteenth century, when the German chemist Friedrich Wöhler in 1828, attempting to prepare ammonium cyanate from silver cyanide and ammonium chloride, accidentally synthesized urea (Rates, 2001).

Plants remain the main source of medicines for a large proportion of the world’s population; particularly in developing countries, of which Nigeria is on the front row of that list. Natural products, especially those derived from plants have been used to help mankind sustain health since dawn of medicine. Over the past century, the phytochemicals in plant have been a pivotal pipeline for pharmaceutical discovery. The importance of the active ingredient of plant in agriculture and medicine has stimulated significant scientific interest in the biological activities of these substances (Agero and Verallo-Roowell, 2004).

There has been an appreciable increase in research on bioactivity of natural products. The biological aspects most researched are antimicrobial, molluscicidal, insecticidal, parasitic, toxicity tests and anti-tumour in decreasing order while advancing a look at African endemic and often neglected diseases such as malaria, leishmaniasis, schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis and ochacerciasis, African trypanosomiasis and chargas disease, leprosy, dergue and tubersculosis.

The coconut tree (cocos nucifera) is a member of the family Arecaceae (palm family). It is the only accepted species in the genus cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed or the fruit, which botanically is a drupe, not a nut. The spelling coconut is an archaic form of the word. The term is derived from the 16th-century Portuguese and Spanish word coco meaning “head” or “skull” from the three indentations on the coconut shell that resemble facial features (Alviano, et al., 2008).

The coconut is known for its great versatility as seen in the many uses of its different parts and found throughout the tropics and subtropics. Coconuts are the part of the daily diets of many people. Coconut is different from any other fruits because they contain a large quantity of “oil” and when immature they are known as tender-nuts or jelly-nuts and may be harvested for drinking. When mature, they still contain some oil and can be used as seed-nuts or processed to give oil from the kernel, charcoal from the hard shell and coir from the fibrous husk. It is considered as an important fruit crop in tropical countries. Coconut is the most extensively grown and used nut in the world, playing a significant role in the economic, cultural, and social life of over 80 tropical countries. Coconut is mainly an oil crop; rich in lauric acid, with a variety of other uses in addition to commercial oil production The fruit, flower and root of this plant are used as ingredients for many ayurvedic preparations and it is also used in Malay traditional medicine to treat ailments such as fever, headaches, stomach upset and diarrhea. Coconut oil is produced by a 5 month old nut that during World War II, was used in emergencies, and put directly into a patient’s veins. From ancient times the coconut is used as a very effective remedy for intestinal worms of all kinds. Boiled toddy, known as jaggery, with lime makes a good cement. Nutmeat of immature coconuts is eaten or extracted cream is used on various foods.

The products from coconut were known to have antibacterial, antiviral, antitumor activity and as an alternative for oral rehydration and intravenous hydration of patients particularly in remote regions. It’s also effective in the treatment of kidney and urethral stones, urinary infections and mineral poisonings. It offers protection against myocardial infarction and control of hypertension.

Antibiotic resistance has become a global concern (Westh et al., 2004). The clinical efficacy of many existing antibiotics is being threatened by the emergence of multidrug-resistant pathogens (Bandow, 2003). The increasing failure of chemotherapeutics and antibiotic resistance exhibited by pathogenic microbial infectious agents has led to the screening of several medicinal plants for their potential antimicrobial activity (Kapila, 2005, Runyoro et al., 2006). The rising prevalence of antibiotics resistant pathogenic microorganisms raises the demand for finding new alternative antimicrobial agents. The drugs already in use to treat infectious disease are of concern because drug safety remains an enormous global issue. Most of the synthetic drugs cause side effects and also most of the microbes developed resistance against the synthetic drugs (Chanda and Rakholiya, 2011). The indiscriminate use of synthetic products has led us to the state of resistance and also provoked the need for natural products. The products from coconut were known to have antibacterial, antiviral, antitumor activity from time immemorial. Hence this study is undertaken to find out the antibacterial activity of coconut oil and coconut oil against gram positive and gram negative bacteria isolated from clinical samples.

1.3 Purpose of Study

The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the antimicrobial activities of Cocos nucifera oil against some clinical isolates

The specific objectives are to;

      i.         Extraction of coconut oil from a matured Cocos nucifera fruit

    ii.         Evaluate the antimicrobial activity of Cocos nucifera oil against Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Escherichia coli.

1.4 Scope of the Study

In this study, focus is fixed on the determination of antimicrobial activity of Cocos nucifera oil against Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Escherichia coli.

1.5 Justification of the Study

Cocos nucifera oil are traditionally used in the treatment of wide variety of diseases, it has been used from time immemorial for the treatment of carcinogenic infections. This study scientifically justifies the use of Coconut oil in traditional folk medicine and to compare their antimicrobial potency with the commercial antibiotics.

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