Antibacterial Activity of Anacaridum Occidentale on Some Enterotoxin Producing Bacteria

Primary screening of ethanolic and aqueous extracts of Anacardium occidentale (bark and leaf) for antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas auroginosa, Shigella dysenteriae, Salmonella typhi and Staphylococcus aureus showed that ethanolic extract was more effective than aqueous extract. The minimum inhibitory concentration ranged from 0.05 g/ml to 0.2 g/ml .The ethanolic extract was found to be bactericidal to all the test bacteria, while the aqueous extract was found to be bacteriostatic to the test bacteria with the exception of the aqueous leaf extract that was bactericidal to Salmonella typhi. The greater the concentration of the extract, the higher the antibacterial activities exerted on the isolates. Salmonella typhi was the most sucesceptible organism to the leaf extract, while Pseudomonas auroginosa was the least sucesceptible organism. Staphphylococcus aureus was the most sucescephple to the ethanolic bark extract and Escherichia coli was the least suceptible organism.