Antibacterial evaluation of Acacia nilotica Lam (Mimosaceae) seed extract in dermatological preparations

Abstract

The plant Acacia nilotica Lam (Mimosaceae) has received a lot of recognition because of its ethno-medicinal claims, some of which have been justified by scientific studies. Various forms of its presentation like the liquor concentrates (decoction) and powders are used traditionally, however, none of these have been standardized to assure efficacy, safety, stability and appropriate dose delivery. The intention of this present work was to develop an antibacterial dermatological dosage formulation that will serve as a remedy for the treatment of skin diseases. The powdered seeds were macerated in methanol for 48 h and the resultant extract was formulated using Aqueous cream BP in which parabens was substituted for chlorocresol as preservative, while lipophilic ointment base, shea butter, was used at concentrations of 5.0, 7.5 and 10.0 % w/w respectively. The formulations were evaluated physico-chemically and subsequently tested against selected organisms such as Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, Streptococcus pyrogens and Salmonella typhi which are commonly implicated in skin infections. Ciprofloxacin and commercially available Neomycin cream were used as reference compounds. The results showed that, all the preparations especially the ointment containing shea butter gave favourable physico-chemical characteristics and at 10.0 % w/w concentration, exhibited significant antibacterial activity (p<0.05) against the microorganisms tested with activity against Staphylococcus aureus being the highest followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa> Streptococcus pneumonia> Klebsiella pneumonia= Escherichia coli= Salmonella typhi. Therefore showing potential for development as a standardized dosage form for the treatment of skin infections where the interrogated organisms are implicated.

Keywords

• Acacia nilotica
• shea butter
• aqueous cream
• antibacteriaL
• skin

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