Antimicrobial Potential of Aqueous and Ethanol Extract of Termite and Bee Natural Products on Escherichia coli for Possible Medicinal Purpose

Abstract

Background: arthropods have been utilized for their socio-economic value as food and medicine for decades in most part of the world. Many traditional healers use insects in their traditional medicine healing system. The idea of utilizing substances collected from insects as medicinal resources, might have originated from the chemical compounds (such as pheromones, venoms, and toxins) sequestered from plants that have shown medicinal value. The study was targeted at investigating the antimicrobial potential of termite and bee natural products on Escherichia coli for possible medicinal purpose. The insects were collected from farmlands (using different insect traps) within Agulu and Nanka communities, Anambra State, Nigeria. The sample was identified and authenticated at the Zoology Department. The insect were killed using killing jar technique, air dried, pulverized and macerated for further investigation. The zoochemical properties and antimicrobial activity of the extract was investigated. Results: It was observed that the constituents, carbohydrate and saponins were present in all the extracts. Tannins, Flavonoids and Terpenoids were present in the ethanol extracts of both insects. The other zoochemicals investigated: Anthraquinones. Alkaloids, Cardiac glycoside, and steroids were not observed in all of the extracts. The water extract of both bee and termite exhibited less activity against E. coli. The ethanol extract of both insects showed E. coli growth inhibition. Based on the distinct zones of inhibition observed. The ethanol extract of termite showed higher inhibition activity (8.33 ± 0.60 mm zone of inhibition), this was followed by the ethanol extract of bee (7.08 ± 1.18 mm zone of inhibition). The aqueous (water) extract of termite (1.33 ± 0.67 mm zone of inhibition) showed higher activity than that of the bee extract (1.00 ± 0.58 mm zone of inhibition). Conclusion: The result of the study showed that ethanol extract of termite and bee contain bioactive constituents with antibacterial effect and lends credence to the entomo-ethno medicinal use of insect in the treatment of bacterial infections.