Studies on the effects of Zingiber officinale Roscoe (Ginger) aqueous and ethanolic extracts on some fungal and bacterial species

The effects of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of Zingiber officinale (ginger) on some species of fungi isolated from soil samples collected from two barbers' landfills and some clinical bacterial isolates were studied. The test isolates included Aspergillus flavus, Curvularia lunata, Fusarium solani, Penicillium species, Bacillus species, Citrobacter species and Staphylococcus aureus. The concentrations of the extracts used included 500mg/ml, 250mg/ml, 125mg/ml, 62.5mg/ml and 31.25mg/ml. The aqueous extract of Z. officinale proved to be more antimicrobial on the test organisms than the ethanolic extract with an inhibitory zone diameter of 46mm at a concentration of 500mg/ml. As for the clinical bacteria, S. aureus was the most inhibited, with an inhibitory zone diameter of 35mm by the same aqueous extract at 500mg/ml concentration. The effects of the said aqueous extract of the plant compared favourably with the effects observed from the standard drugs, nystatin 5μg/ml and gentamycin 40mg/ml on the test fungi and bacteria respectively. The implications of the results obtained have been discussed.