African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 3 (10), pp. 552-554, October 2004           
ISSN 1684–5315 © 2004 Academic Journals

Short Communication

Studies on the antimicrobial effects of garlic (Allium sativum Linn), ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) and lime (Citrus aurantifolia Linn)

Onyeagba R.A.¹*, Ugbogu O.C. ², Okeke C.U. and Iroakasi .O. ¹

¹Department of Microbiology, Abia State University, PMB 2000 Uturu, Nigeria

²Department of Botany, Abia state University,PMB 2000 Uturu, Nigeria.

*Corresponding author. E-Mail: osychin@yahoo.com.

Accepted 15 August, 2004

The antimicrobial effect in vitro of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of garlic (Allium sativum Linn.), ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) and lime (Citrus aurantifolia Linn.) juice were assayed against Staphylococcus aureus; Bacillus spp., Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp. All the test organisms were susceptible to undiluted lime-juice. The aqueous and ethanolic extracts of garlic and ginger singly did not inhibit any of the test organisms. The highest inhibition zone of 19 mm was observed with a combination of extracts on Staphylococcus aureus. Salmonella spp were resistant to almost all the extracts except lime.

Key words: Antimicrobial, ginger, garlic, lime, concoctions.