Bacterial growth inhibitory effects of Calotropis procera’s latex, leaves and roots extracts

This study was conducted to evaluate in vitro antibacterial potential of water and ethanolic extracts from Calotropis procera roots, leaves and latex. The growth inhibitory effects of the extracts were tested against Escherichia coli using disc diffusion method. Amoxicillin was used as positive control, whereas ethanol and distilled water were used as negative controls. Results showed that water extracts from root, latex and leaves had 3.27 ± 0.14, 3.1 ± 0.21 and 2.38 ± 0.24 cm of maximum inhibition zones, while the ethanolic extracts showed 2.91 ± 0.19, 3.02 ± 0.16 and 0.84 ± 0.31 cm, respectively of maximum inhibition zones. The positive control; amoxicillin had 3.56 ± 0.09 cm of maximum inhibition zone. Post hoc tests revealed that roots, latex and conventional amoxicillin were equally effective in inhibiting E. coli growth. It further revealed that water extracts exhibited more growth inhibitory effects than ethanol extracts. No significant variations were observed on the E. coli growth inhibition due to the locations from where C. procera were collected. Generally, results indicated that C. procera inhibited the growth of E. coli. Thus its uses for the development of traditional and complementary medicines and further investigation on its biological activity on other microbes are highly recommended. Keywords: Antibacterial, Calotropis procera, Diameter of inhibition zone. Escherichia coli, Plant crude extract, Traditional medicine