Indigenous toothbrushes and their antimicrobial potential

Abstract

Twigs of nine plants, twigs and roots of Euclea natalensis were collected from villages in Morogoro region, Tanzania, where they are used for brushing teeth. Barks were separated from the wood and each plant part was, separately, extracted with methanol by maceration at room temperature. The dried crude methanol extracts were screened for antimicrobial activity against oral microbes (Streptococcus mutans, Actinomyces viscosus and Candida albicans) and their minimum inhibitory concentrations were determined. Seven out of ten plants exhibited antimicrobial activity while three were inactive at 5, mg/well. The active plants were Acacia 1 senegal, Combretum molle, Diospyros usambarensis, Eriosema psoraleoides, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Euclea natalensis and Hibiscus micranthus. Barks were found to be more active than the .. woods. A phytochemical screening of E. psoraleoides and H. micranthus revealed the presence of terpenes, sterols, saponins and flavonoids in both plants. Tannins were also detected in E. psoraleoides. The stem bark of E. psoraleoides showed broad antimicrobial activity, hence it was subjected to further bioassay guided fractionation to give six active fractions. In general, this study has demonstrated that most of the investigated chewing sticks have antimicrobial activity against the oral microorganisms used in this study. The barks were found to be more active than the woods, hence, it is advisable not to peel off the bark when using the chewing stick . ••