Impact of Chenopodium album and Allium sativum Extracts Alone and in Combination against Mastitogens ^†

Abstract

In the dairy sector, mastitis is one of the most important and costly diseases because, due to it, the world’s economy faces about 35 billion dollar loss each year. Bacterial pathogens that cause mastitis are called mastitogens. Among these bacterial species, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus uberis, Streptococcus agalactia, and Streptococcus dysgalactia are the most important. Mastitis is treated with antibiotics; however, due to their improper, excessive, and irrational usage, these pathogens have become resistant to them. Drug residues in milk is also a factor resulting in multi-drug resistance (MDR) in mastitogens that cause treatment to become ineffective. In Pakistan, several ethnoveterinary plants, such as Allium sativum (garlic) and Chenopodium album (goosefoot), are used for the treatment of mastitis in cattle and buffalo. For this purpose, we prepared aqueous and methanol extracts of A. sativum and C. album. In the agar well diffusion method, the aqueous A. sativum showed strong activity against Staphylococcus aureus, i.e., 20 mm, whereas the methanolic extract of C. album gave an 11 mm zone of inhibition against Staphylococcus aureus. By combining the extracts of A. sativum and C. album, they give a synergistic effect, especially against E. coli. Results showed that the zone of inhibition against Staphylococcus aureus was 16 mm, against E. coli was 22 mm, and against Streptococcus uberis was 5 mm. Our study is in agreement with the use of A. sativum and C. album in cases of mastitis and recommends their combined use for better results.