title: The antimicrobial activities of processed Nigerian and South African black tea.
abstract: The antibacterial activity of processed Nigerian Lipton Tea and South African 5 Roses Tea, extracted using distilled water, chloroform and 70% ethanol were determined against nine (9) enteropathogenic bacteria which includes; Bacillus subtilis, Proteus sp, Enterobacter sp., Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, Salmonella paratyphi A, Salmonella arizona and Staphylococcus aureus. The 2 tea bags, Nigerian Lipton tea bag and the South African 5 Roses tea bag were extracted through Solvent extraction method using 3 extraction solvents; Distilled water, Chloroform and 70% Ethanol and then inoculated onto the Mueller-Hinton agar plates containing the standard isolates at 6 different points on each plate. The zones of inhibition of the bacterial isolates produced by each of these tea - extracts were determined while meaningful antibacterial activities against five (5) of the standard isolates; Enterobacter sp., K. pneumoniae, S. paratyphi A, B. subtilis and S. aureus were observed. Lipton tea water-extract was a more effective antibacterial agent than water-extract of 5 Roses tea. While the 70% ethanol-extract of 5 Roses tea had the greatest antibacterial activity of all the different tea-extract used for the study, the chloroform-extracts of the tea bags had no antimicrobial effect on all the test organisms used.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Lagos State University, Badagry Expressway, PMB 0001, LASU Post Office, Lagos, Nigeria. solayom@yahoo.com
authors.forename: O A
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Ojo
authors.forename: A O
authors.initials: AO
authors.lastname: Yunusa
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Akindele
authors.forename: V N
authors.initials: VN
authors.lastname: Vera
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fowora
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002725:Chloroform; D006801:Humans; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D009549:Nigeria; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013019:South Africa; D013662:Tea / Q000737:chemistry*; D014867:Water
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D010936:Plant Extracts; D013662:Tea; D014867:Water; D002725:Chloroform