Comparative antimicrobial analysis of indigenous black soap variants

Abstract

The in-vitro antimicrobial efficacy of Indigenous Black Soaps (IBS) to promote and increase the awareness of the economic viability of these skin-care products were comparatively evaluated in this study. Three (3) different locally produced black soups variants (turmeric, honey and lime) and two (2) different commercially available black soap in Nigeria (Dudu-Osun® and Zee black soap®) were analyzed against some selected microorganisms isolated from human skin. The clinical isolates were Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans. The susceptibility pattern of each of the tested organism to the different soap samples was determined using agar well diffusion method. The result obtained from this study reveals that the commercially available black soaps and the locally produced once, showed significant antimicrobial activities against the test organisms. This justifies the use of the traditional materials found in back soaps as potent antiseptics. The average inhibition zone diameter (IZD) of the locally produced black soap containing turmeric showed the highest zone of inhibition (41.1mm) and the locally produced black soap with lime (8 mm) was the least. The percentage of activity of the soaps on the test organisms showed that Staphylococcus aureus displayed higher susceptibility to most of the black soaps compared to Candida albicans and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Therefore, it is recommended that locally produced soaps with turmeric and honey could be considered as viable alternatives in future topical and skin-care formulations for the treatment of infections caused by the tested organisms used in this study.

Keywords:

Antimicrobial analysis, black soap variants, indigenous, honey, lime, turmeric.