ASSESSMENTOF THE ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF ALUM USED AS AN AFTERSHAVE USING Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas sp. AND Staphylococcus aureus AS TEST ORGANISMS

ABSTRACT

The search for suitable components used in aftershave ointments against human pathogens continues because of the negative effect these prevalent ones have on the skin. Potassium aluminiumsulphate (PAS) commonly referred to as ‘potash alum (PA)’, ‘alum’ or ‘tawas’ has recently drawn the attention of the scientific community as an efficient, safe and eco-friendly inorganic compound, commercially available and cost effective. It demonstrated a high propensity of antimicrobial activity in a variety of systems traditionally and scientifically. Several Invitro and Invivo studies report that alum individually or in synergism have antimicrobial properties against a broad spectrum of bacterial and fungal species and harnesses other activities beneficial to humans. This study was aimed at assessing the antibacterial activities of alum aqueous extract against selected bacterial pathogens. Three bacteria Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas sp and Staphylococcus aureuswere used as test isolates. Antibacterial activities of alum aqueous extract were performed using the agar well diffusion method. From the results, the alum aqueous extract demonstrated strong activity against the pathogens with zones of inhibition sizes ranging from inhibition ranging from 24.67±0.67 mm (Pseudomonassp) to 18.33±0.33 mm (Escherichia coli). The results of this study reveal that the alum aqueous extractsignificantly inhibited the growth of the tested bacterial pathogens individually and alum aqueous extract had a bactericidal effect against Escherichia coli. Further studies should however be conducted to ascertain the effectiveness of alum against fungiin vivo.