[1]
Fabian Pitkin, Department of Medical Technology, Northern Caribbean University, Mandeville, Jamaica.
[2]
Jason Black, Department of Biology, Northern Caribbean University, Mandeville, Jamaica.
[3]
Kedean Stedford, Department of Medical Technology, Northern Caribbean University, Mandeville, Jamaica.
[4]
Olivia Valentine, Department of Medical Technology, Northern Caribbean University, Mandeville, Jamaica.
[5]
Johanna Knott, Department of Medical Technology, Northern Caribbean University, Mandeville, Jamaica.
[6]
Eveline Laverdure, Department of Medical Technology, Northern Caribbean University, Mandeville, Jamaica.
Given the natural Jamaican inclination towards natural curative methods, and the current and steady rise of microorganisms as one of the greatest threats to the quality of human life the research was aimed at embarking on a thorough assessment of the antimicrobial properties of the Moringa oleifera and Desmodium incanum. In conducting this research, the leaves and blossoms of the Desmodium incanum plant and the seeds of the Moringa oleifera were dried and milled then extracts made by exposing the milled material to Methanol and Distilled Water. Broths were made of the three microbes of interest: Staphylococcus aureus, Group D Streptococcus and Klebsiella Pneumoniae, then Anti-microbial Susceptibility Testing done using the Well Diffusion Method with concentrations of 5, 10, 20, 40, 60 and 100 mg/dl of each plant extract. Finally, six one in ten serial dilutions of the microbe broths stressed with the plant extracts were utilized for the Colony Forming Assay and Optical Density analysis. The Beesbush plant proved to be the most potent in decreasing the growth and replication of all three microbes. Specifically, Beesbush leaves demonstrated the greatest antimicrobial potency against the S. aureus, Group D Strep and K. Pneumoniae when compared with the blossoms in either extract (water or methanol) and the Moringa. Beesbush in methanol extracts produced the lowest Optical Density results for all the microbes, excluding the case of S aureus in which Moringa Seeds in Water produced the lowest result, and Moringa seeds in Methanol produced the lowest survival percentage. It was found that Methanol extracts are the most potent overall in treating S. aureus, K. pneumoniae and Group D Strep, collectively producing the lowest Optical Density and CFU survival.
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