Antimicrobial efficacy of Terminalia chebula (Haritaki) ethanol extracts against Escherichia coli and Salmonella isolated from commercial broiler

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance is one of the most concerning issues globally for public health. To tackle this problem, elucidation of folk medicine could be an option to treat infectious diseases and reduce the risk of antimicrobial resistance in both human and veterinary medicine. Escherichia coli and Salmonella are two common bacterial pathogens of poultry in Bangladesh.

Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the efficacy of ethanolic extract of Terminalia chebula (Haritaki) fruits against these two organisms and some other commercial antimicrobials, including ciprofloxacin, enrofloxacin, colistin sulfate, tetracycline, and trimethoprim. For this purpose, a total of 90 commercial broiler chickens were purchased from local markets, sacrificed, and liver samples were collected for the isolation of E. coli and Salmonella spp. A total of three concentrations (1mg/µL, 0.5mg/µL, and 0.25mg/µL) of the ethanolic extract of Terminalia chebula fruit were tested against these organisms.

The Terminalia chebula extracts showed a zone of inhibition at 1mg/µL dose soaked the disc with 20 µl extracts against E. coli (12-13 mm) and Salmonella spp. (10-11 mm), which are similar to the intermediary zone sensitivity of colistin sulfate, tetracycline, and trimethoprim. In summary, we may conclude that ethanolic extracts of the Terminalia chebula fruits would be a potential source as antimicrobial agents.