Antibacterial Effect of the Latex and the Leaf Extracts of Jatropha curcas Linn on Streptococcus mutans

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Biological Sciences, Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin, Nigeria

2 Department of Microbiology, University of Ilorin, P.M.B 1515, Ilorin, Nigeria

3 Department of Biological Sciences, Al-Hikmah University, P.M.B 1601, Ilorin, Nigeria

Abstract

This
work examined the efficacy of the latex and leaf extracts of Jatropha curcas Linn on Streptococcus mutans. The hot water
extract of the Jatropha leaf was
prepared at 40oC and the ethanol extract of the leaf was prepared at
room temperature. None of the leaf extracts was found to inhibit the growth of Streptococcus mutans. However, the latex
showed a remarkable inhibition to the growth of Streptococcus mutans. The average inhibition zone of the latex
against Streptococcus mutans was
18mm. The latex was alkaline with pH of 8.1, the ethanol extract of the leaves
had pH value of 6.1. The water extract of the leaves was found to be the most
acidic with pH of 5.0.

Keywords