Mohd Kashif Khan, Mariya Hasnat, Mohammad Usama and Ambrina Sardar Khan
Abstract
E. coli is the most common organism responsible for UTI infections in both male and female individuals. Escherichia coli bacterium is present in the human intestine, which helps in preventing the entry of pathogenic microorganisms. E. coli are non-pathogenic in normal conditions, but if present in excess, will become causative agent of various diseases like urinary tract infections, diarrhoea, vomiting etc. (Shelef, 1983). For treatment of UTI infections in humans various drugs are used against E-coli. Due to increasing resistance of microorganisms to antibiotics, there is a shift of choice from synthetic to ayurvedic and naturopathy, where herbs and spices are very common ingredients of medicines (Indu MN, Hatha et al., 2006). Herbs and spices are used in Indian recipes as they impart aroma and flavor to it. The six spice extracts namely turmeric, black pepper, cinnamon, tamarind, fennel and clove were tested against pathogenic E.coli. The isopropanolic extracts exhibited antimicrobial potential against uropathogen. The Black pepper extract showed maximum zone of inhibition (with 1.0,1.5,3.0 cm at 12.5,25,50 mg concentrations respectively) while Tamarind showed minimum zone of inhibition (with 0,0,1.2cm at 12.5,25,50 mg concentrations respectively).