Antimicrobial Activity of Coconut Water, Coconut Oil and Palm Kernel Oil on selected Clinical Enterobacteriaceae Isolates

Antimicrobial resistance and the decreasing efficiency of antimicrobial drugs have resulted in the search for antimicrobial agents as an important strategy for the establishment of alternative therapies in handling difficult infections. This study was carried out to compare and investigate the in vitro antimicrobial activities of coconut water, coconut and palm kernel oil on selected clinical Enterobacteriacae isolates from Edo state, Nigeria. The antimicrobial activities of the samples were screened using agar well diffusion assay methods. The physicochemical properties of coconut and palm kernel oil was determined using previously described methods to characterize the oil samples. Using previously described methods, the proximate analysis and qualitative presence of phytochemical constituents were analyzed in the coconut water sample.  The assay of antibacterial activity of the Enterobacteriaceae isolates showed the highest susceptibility to Coconut water. Enterobacter cloacae showed the highest zone of inhibition of 20mm when compared with the positive control. Coconut and palm kernel oil also showed inhibitory effects on the isolates. The phytochemical and proximate tests of the coconut water sample revealed the presence of reducing sugar and terpenoids and also a good proximate composition (ash, moisture, crude lipid, crude fiber and protein). The oil characterization results for coconut and palm kernel oils are acid value (4.348 mgKOH/g, 3.363 mgKOH/g), saponification value (413.036 mgKOH/g, 267.177 mgKOH/g), peroxide value (0.55 mEq/kg, 8.8 mEq/kg) and iodine value (14.657 g/100g, 14.276 g/100g).  Our study showed good promising evidence for the antimicrobial effects of the samples and their usefulness in food and manufacturing industries.