Antibacterial Properties of Medicinal Plant Extracts Against Antibiotic Resistant Organisms Isolated From an Abattoir in Lagos State

The rise in the utilization of medicinal plants for treating antibiotic-resistant pathogens in abattoirs in the present era has made the application of numerous plants containing active compounds that possess antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties very important. Based on this knowledge, this study aims to investigate the antibacterial effects of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of garlic, cloves and ginger against antibiotic-resistant bacteria isolated from an abattoir in Lagos State. The research results show that the dressing water has high bacterial counts on Nutrient and MacConkey agar (225 and 190 CFU/ml) respectively and few counts on Thiosulphate citrate bile salt agar (1.4 CFU/ml). After sequencing, the prevalent isolates were Staphylococcus ureilyticus (27%), Proteus terrae (23%), Staphylococcus arlettae (20%), Micrococcus aloeverae (20%) and Myroides odoratimimus (10%) listed in decreasing prevalence. Additionally, it was noted that the antibacterial activity of cloves, ginger and garlic against these isolates, using a disk diffusion assay, had a maximum zone of inhibition of 10–23 cm for cloves, 9–15 cm for ginger and 6–8 cm for garlic against the resistant organisms tested. The Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) obtained showed that different concentrations were effective against the five tested organisms. The screening of resistant bacteria using ethanolic and aqueous extracts of cloves, ginger and garlic showed greater inhibition zones with ethanolic cloves extract, followed by ginger. Molecular characterization of bacterial DNA showed an amplicon band size around 1,500 indicating bacterial genome with standard purity from the extraction. Thus, the active metabolites present in cloves, ginger and garlic exhibit potent anti- microbial properties against resistant organisms, including those commonly found in beef slaughtering and dressing water. By exploiting these spices' medicinal potential, we may be able to alleviate the growing concern about antibiotic resistance and enhance public health outcomes.