African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 4 (12), pp. 1413-1414, December 2005          
ISSN 1684–5315 © 2005 Academic Journals

Short Communication

Comparative antimicrobial activities of aloe vera gel and leaf

Agarry O.O.^1*, Olaleye M.T.² and Bello-Michael, C.O. ¹

¹Department of Microbiology, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria.

²Department of Biochemistry Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: oluagarry@yahoo.com.

Accepted 14 October, 2005

The comparative antimicrobial activities of the gel and leaf of Aloe vera were tested against Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Trichophyton mentagraphytes, T. schoeleinii, Microsporium canis and Candida albicans. Ethanol was used for the extraction of the leaf after obtaining the gel from it. Antimicrobial effect was measured by the appearance of zones of inhibition. Antimicrobial susceptibility test showed that both the gel and the leaf inhibited the growth of S. aureus (18.0 and 4.0 mm, respectively). Only the gel inhibited the growth of T. mentagrophytes (20.0 mm), while the leaf possesses inhibitory effects on both P. aeruginosa and C. albicans. The results of this study tend to give credence to the popular use of both Aloe vera gel and leaf.

Key words: Antimicrobial activities, Aloe vera, leaf, Antimicrobial susceptibility test.