Journal of Agriculture
and Environmental Sciences

In Vitro Analysis of Antibacterial and Antifungal Potency af Tissue Cultured and Indigenous Aloe Secundiflora Plant Extracts
Erastus Maingi Kinyamasyo, Chimbevo Lenny Mwagandi, Fredrick Baraka Kaingu, Gibson Kamau Gicharu

Abstract
In vitro studies on the antimicrobial potency of extracts from tissue cultured and indigenous Aloe secundiflora plants were conducted. Mature tissue cultured and indigenous A. secundiflora plants were collected from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT and Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI), Gede forest respectively. Crude, chloroform (non polar solvent) and ethanol (polar solvent) extracts were prepared from both indigenous and tissue cultured A. secundiflora plants. The antimicrobial activities was evaluated using a standard strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853), Rhizophus stolonifer isolate cultures obtained from bread, clinical isolates of Candida albicans, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli obtained from Mewa hospital in Mombasa district, Mombasa county. It was observed that the crude extracts from tissue cultured and indigenous A. secundiflora plants had antibacterial activities on both P. aeruginosa and S. aureus but was not active against R. stolonifer, E. coli and C. albicans. The antimicrobial potency between the same extract from tissue cultured and indigenous A. secundiflora plants had no significant difference (P>0.05). However, the antimicrobial potency of different extracts from either the tissue cultured or indigenous A. secundiflora plants varied significantly (p<0.05). The data suggests that both tissue cultured and indigenous A. secundiflora could be a rich source of antimicrobial agents. Therefore tissue culture is recommended as a means of propagating the plant to meet the demand in the production of antimicrobial agents other products.

Full Text: PDF