A comparison of the antibacterial activity of some African black soaps and medicated soaps commonly used for the treatment of bacteria-infected wound

Abstract

Background: Black soap is a medicinal product that could be harnessed for economic purpose if properly packaged, and misconception about its traditional use by herbalists is thrown overboard.Aims: To promote the relevance of these soaps for economic development, this study compared the antibacterial activity of black soaps with medicated soaps widely used against bacterial infections.Methods: The antibacterial activities of these soap samples were determined by agar diffusion and macrobroth dilution methods.Results: In this study, the statistical analysis of the inhibition zones showed that black soaps were significantly (p < 0.05) more active than medicated soaps used against the test bacterial isolates. The black soaps inhibited and killed the isolates better than the medicated soaps at the different concentrations used. The minimum inhibitory concentration for Klebsiella pneumoniae and Enterococcus faecalis ranged between 0.125 mg/mL and 2 mg/mL, Staphylococcus aureus (0.25–4) mg/mL, Escherichia coli (0.125–4) mg/mL and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (1–4) mg/mL. The result showed that K. pneumoniae and E. faecalis were the most susceptible, followed by E. faecalis > E. coli > S. aureus > P. aeruginosa.Conclusion: As a valuable medicinal output derivable from organic waste product that could be converted to wealth, African black soap production, utilisation and commercialisation have tremendous economic potentials. These soaps showed significant antibacterial activity greater than those of the medicated soaps. Hence, their use could be a better option in place of commercially available medicated and antiseptic soaps because of the degree of antibacterial activities they exhibited.

Comparative Antimicrobial Efficacy of Locally Made African Black Soaps Produced in Akure, Nigeria and Medicated Soaps Against Selected Clinical Skin Pathogens

“…The macro-morphological properties of the different mycelium clones were obtained by visual appearance of the mycelium units while micro-morphological properties of fungi mycelium clones were obtained via microscopic observations of stained mycelia with Analyzed sample treatments were replicated thrice; data means obtained were subjected to a 2-way analysis of variance and treatment means were separated using Duncan's New Multiple Range test at P ≤ 0.05 levels of significance [1][2][3]6,9]. against known skin pathogens in contrast with many commercially available medicated soaps licensed for sales in the markets.…”

“…A total of 3 different locally made African black soap samples were collected into sterile polyethene packs using the guidelines described [6]; while Industrially produced medicated soaps such as Dettol and Septol which are certified by the Nigerian National …”

“…Different concentrations of the African black soap from the three sampling points and medicated soaps obtained were made at 0.2 mg/ml, 0.4 mg/ml and 0.6 mg/ml respectively; modifying the methods described [1][2][3]6,9]. A standard bactericidal agent …”

“…However, since the black soaps were potent antimicrobials with high bactericidal potentials, no intrinsic bacteriological contaminant were present; this have also been indicated in the findings of Bashua and Oladunmoye [5], Olajuyigbe [6]. The production process of the African black soap involves heating and the use of some additives such as lime, palm kernel oil and Shea butter which have all been reported to have potent bactericidal properties and hence inhibit the growth of bacteria [15].…”

“…Similarly, the active components of the medicated soaps (Dettol and Septol) are trichlorocarbamide, triclosan and chloroxylenol which have the ability to inhibit bacteria to a larger extent than fungi by denaturing or disrupting cell activity and interfering with microbial metabolism [4]. Hence, this substantiate why all the soaps used Olajuyigbe., et al [6]. Moreover, since the medicated soaps do mostly contain synthetics rather than these natural available bioactive components, they showed mild potency to the test bacteria as compared to the degree of susceptibility exhibited by black soaps [9].…”