title: Isolation and identification of salmonella from curry samples and its sensitivity to commercial antibiotics and aqueous extracts of Camelia sinensis (L.) and Trachyspermum ammi (L.).
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To isolate Salmonella from curry samples and to evaluate the drug sensitivity of the food-borne Salmonella and its susceptibility to specific plant extracts.
  
  
  METHODS
  Salmonella was isolated from the curry samples by standard microbiological methods and was confirmed by biochemical tests. The antibiotic susceptibility test was conducted by disc diffusion method using commercially available antibiotics such as ampicillin, tetracycline, chloramphenicol, kanamycin, and penicillin. In addition, the susceptibility of the food-borne Salmonella was also evaluated against the aqueous extracts of Camelia sinensis (L.) Theaceae (tea leaves) and the Trachyspermum ammi (L.) Apiaceae ( ajwain or omum seeds).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Out of fifty curry samples, only seven samples were identified to have Salmonella contamination. The Salmonella isolates showed a significant drug resistance pattern except for kanamycin. The plant extracts showed a considerable antibacterial activity against the isolates, indicating the presence of antimicrobial principle which can be exploited after complete pharmacological investigations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present study demonstrates the occurrence of Salmonella in the curry samples, and shows significant drug resistance against most of the commercially available antibiotics, except kanamycin. Antimicrobial effect of the plant extracts against the food-bone Salmonella suggests that dietary including medicinal herbs would be one strategy to manage food borne pathogens.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Applied Sciences, AIMST University, Semeling, 08100 Bedong, Kedah Darul Aman, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Thanes
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gunasegaran
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Rathinam
authors.forename: Marimuthu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kasi
authors.forename: Kathiresan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sathasivam
authors.forename: Sasidharan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sreenivasan
authors.forename: Sreeramanan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Subramaniam
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D019661:Apiaceae / Q000737:chemistry*; D028244:Camellia / Q000737:chemistry*; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D005516:Food Microbiology; D006801:Humans; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012475:Salmonella / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D010936:Plant Extracts
keywords: Camelia sinensis; Commercial antibiotics; Curry samples; Drug resistance; Food-borne; Plant extracts; Salmonella; Trachyspermum ammi