Antibacterial Effect of Curcuma longa (Turmeric) Against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli

This observational study was conducted during the period from July 2010 to June 2011 in the Department of Pharmacology in the collaboration of Department of Microbiology, Mymensingh Medical College, Mymensingh to determine the profile of antibacterial effect of Crude Turmeric paste aqueous turmeric extract, and standard antibiotic Amikacin against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. Three separate experiments were done e.g. (Expt- I) Inhibitory effect of Crude Turmeric paste incorporated into nutrient agar (NA) media, (Expt- II) Minimum inhibitory concentration of (a) Aqueous Turmeric extract and (b) Amikacin by broth dilution technique and (Expt-III) their subculture study in nutrient agar (NA) media for confirmation of respective results of previous experiments. Inhibitory effects were observed against the growth of Staph Aureus and Esch coli at 10% and 30% respectively of Crude Turmeric paste incorporated into NA media. The broth dilution technique was followed to determine the MIC of Aqueous Turmeric extract and Amikacin. The MIC of Aqueous Turmeric extract was 800 μg/ml against Staph aureus and that against Esch coli was 2000 μg/ml and the MIC of Amikacin was 10 μg/ml for both the bacteria. The MIC of Amikacin was the lowest in comparison to MIC of Aqueous Turmeric extract for complete inhibition of growth of Staph aureus and Esch coli. The subculture study showed similar results with that of previous experiments in terms of inhibitory effects of Crude Turmeric paste and MIC of Aqueous Turmeric extract and Amikacin against all of the organisms studied.