article · Annals of Agricultural and Environmental Medicine
Bacteria isolated from poultry drinking troughs across three farms in Enugu, Nigeria, demonstrated notable resistance potential, with all Escherichia coli isolates harbouring a ten kilobase pair plasmid. To explore alternative antimicrobial options, laboratory tests assessed the efficacy of aqueous and ethanolic extracts from ginger, garlic, and scent leaf against these isolates. Across all tested plant species, ethanol extracts produced larger zones of bacterial growth inhibition compared to aqueous preparations. At concentrations of 250 microlitres, ethanolic extracts demonstrated antibacterial effects comparable to or exceeding the conventional antibiotic ofloxacin, which was among the most potent standard drugs tested against the isolates. Overall, garlic and ginger ethanol extracts showed the strongest activity. These results demonstrate that selected botanical extracts can inhibit resistant poultry-derived bacterial strains in laboratory conditions, though further investigations are needed to understand their mechanisms and optimise formulations.
The spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in poultry environments threatens both livestock welfare and broader human health. Identifying effective non-antibiotic alternatives is crucial for maintaining farm hygiene and reducing dependence on standard veterinary drugs. Confirming that accessible plant extracts can suppress resistant bacteria found on farm equipment provides an initial foundation for exploring natural antimicrobials in agricultural sanitation.
This work represents early-stage laboratory research into botanical antimicrobials for livestock environments. It could eventually inform the development of natural sanitising products or feed additives for poultry producers and veterinary health companies. However, real-world application remains distant, as the findings rely on in vitro agar diffusion tests, and subsequent research must clarify the mechanisms of action and optimise stable formulations.
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Introduction and Objective.The increasing emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, particularly in poultry farming environments, poses a serious threat to both animal and human health.The aim of the study is to evaluate the antimicrobial potential of the aqueous and ethanol plant extracts of Ginger (Zingiber officinale), Garlic (Allium sativium) and Scent leaf (Ocimum gratissimum), respectively, at different concentrations against E. coli isolated from poultry drinking troughs on three farms in Enugu, Nigeria.Materials and Method.E. coli was isolated using standard microbiological techniques.Antimicrobial susceptibility of the bacteria to ethanol and aqueous plant extracts as well as conventional antibiotics was assessed using the agar well diffusion method.The plasmid profiles of the bacterial isolates were determined via agarose gel electrophoresis.Results.The bacterial counts from the drinking troughs ranged from 2.0 × 10 4 -7.9 × 10 4 CFU/cm 2 .While some differences were observed between farms and sample points, there was a varying degree of antibacterial activity of Zingiber officinale, Allium sativium and Ocimum gratissimum against Escherichia coli.The ethanolic extract of all plants showed higher zones of inhibition than the aqueous extracts.The ethanolic extracts of Zingiber officinale (garlic) at higher concentrations of 250 µl exhibited zones of inhibition of 41 mm for EA1 and 37 mm for EA2, surpassing that of the control, Ofloxacin antibiotics (10 μg) (39-41 mm) which was one of the most potent of all the conventional antibiotics used against E. coli isolates.All E. coli isolates revealed the presence of single plasmids of 10 kbp indicating potential for antibiotic resistance.Conclusions.Plant extracts, particularly ethanol extracts of Zingiber officinale and Allium sativium, has promising antimicrobial activity against resistant strains of E. coli.Further studies are needed to explore the mechanism of action and optimize plant extract formulations for broader application.
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DOI: 10.26444/aaem/224438
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