INVESTIGATION OF IN VITRO ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF ALOE VERA LEAVES EXTRACT ON ESCHERICHIA COLI

The present study was undertaken to investigate the antibacterial activity of Aloe vera leaves gel extract against Escherichia coli O78. In serial two fold dilution of A. vera leaves aqueous extract, 1x10 7 colony forming units (CFU) of E. coli were added. The turbidity corresponding to the bacterial growth in different dilutions was measured as optical density at 600 nm with a spectrophotometer. The maximum activity of extract was observed at its 1:256 dilution and minimum inhibitory concentration was found to be 1:512 dilution. All the dilutions showed significantly lower CFU as compared to control positive. However, the lowest count was observed at 1:256 dilution of 5% extract with maximum percent inhibition of bacterial growth (39.9%) as compared to all other dilutions (1:2 to 1:1024). The gel of A. vera leaves possessed antibacterial activity against E. coli and suggested its possible use as a herbal medicine.