antibacterial activity of 𝑆𝑒𝑛𝑛𝑎 𝑜𝑐𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑠 extract on bacteria isolated from wound of patients attending kwararafa hospital wukari, taraba state, north east, nigeria

Wound infection can cause delayed wound healing, and due to the emergence of antibiotic resistance, treatment of wound infection has become less effective using conventional antibiotics. this has led to the search for an alternative treatment method, which ethnomedicine has proven to be promising. thus, the antibacterial activity of senna occidentalis leaf extract was evaluated against isolated bacteria from the wound of patients attending kwararafa hospital wukari, taraba state, nigeria. a total of three (3) wounds were randomly swabbed. bacteria were isolated and identified using standard microbiological procedures. the disk diffusion method was used to assess the antibacterial activity of the aqueous and methanolic extracts of senna occidentalis leaf extract at different concentrations (20 mg/ml, 40 mg/ml, 60 mg/ml, 80 mg/ml, and 100 mg/ml). the bacteria pathogens isolated and identified are staphylococcus spp. 3(37.5%), klebsiella pneumonia 2(25%), escherichia coli 2 (25%), and pseudomonas aeruginosa 1(12.5%). the aqueous extract was not effective, while the methanolic leaf extract of the plant displayed promising antibacterial activity at all concentrations against all the bacterial isolates, with the highest zones of inhibition recorded at 100mg/ml, measuring 16±5.0mm, 18±5.0 mm, 20±5.0 mm, and 15±0.0 mm, for staphylococcus spp., klebsiella pneumonia, escherichia coli, and pseudomonas aeruginosa respectively. the result of this study supports the traditional use of senna occidentalis in the treatment of wound infections.