The fruit (Nabag or Christ's Thorn Jujube) of Sidir tree (Ziziphus spina-christi) is a native snack food in Sudan. The antibacterial properties of methanol fruit extract of the Sudanese Ziziphus spina-christi was investigated against different ATCC strains of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The agar-well diffusion test, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) tests were used to evaluate the antibacterial activity. In general, the study revealed that the fruit extract has no antibacterial activity against the Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli ATCC 35218 and Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC 700603). While, moderate antibacterial activities against the Gram-positive bacteria were recorded. The most sensitive bacteria were Staphylococcus epidermidis ATCC 12228, followed by Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 and Bacillus cereus ATCC 10876, respectively. The least sensitive bacteria were Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212. However, the detected activities were not significant compared to the antibiotic (Chloramphenicol 5mg/ml). Further studies using different solvents for extraction alongside with phytochemical and pharmacological studies are necessary to determine the bioactive compounds of the fruits of Ziziphus spina-christi.

Download this article as