Therapeutic Effect of Goya Extra Virgin Olive Oil in Albino Rat Orogastricallly Dosed with Salmonella typhi

Abstract

The therapeutic properties of Goya extra virgin olive oil in albino rats orogastrically dosed with Salmonella Typhi were accessed in this study. Both the in- vivo and in- vitro assays were used in assessing the antimicrobial activity of Goya extra virgin olive oil. Thirteen microorganisms including eight bacteria and five fungi were used in the in- vitro bioassay. Comparison of the antimicrobial efficacy of olive oil and commercial antibiotics revealed ofloxacin, gentamicin as well as the olive oil to be potent against the test organisms. The in- vivo bioassay were carried out using twenty albino rats randomly assigned into four study groups of five rats per group. The groups orogastricallly dosed with Salmonella typhi revealed that the animals showed depressed activity and weakness such as slow movement, anorexia, falling fur and rough hair coat, light soft faeces, ocular discharge and loss of weight. Following separate treatments of the rats with antibiotic (Ofloxacin) as well as Olive oil, all the characteristic symptoms of the disease decreased with time. The treated animals gained more appetite for food and water as evidenced by an increase in their weight. The average weights gained by the rats treated with Goya extra virgin olive oil were found to be higher than the weights of the untreated animals. Thus, revealing that Goya extra virgin olive oil has an antibacterial effect as does, antibiotics in the treatment of S. typhi induced disease. The control group had a fairly constant colonial count per gram (106cfu/g) of animal faeces which ranged from 1.52 ± 0.01 to 1.70 ± 0.01. There was a sharp decrease in the bacterial colony count of the faeces of the animals treated with antibiotic from 3.22 ± 0.06 to 1.70 ± 0.01 when compared to those fed with olive oil which decreased from 3.00 ± 0.00 to 2.9 ± 0.03. This confirms that the elimination rate of the bacteria in the host is as a result of the antibacterial activity of the olive oil and the antibiotics respectively. Olive oil is a natural antimicrobial and a non- toxic immune modulator, it is an amazing health building supplement which stimulates the immune system to fight against infection. Hence, results from this study have justified the use of olive oil as a natural antimicrobial and a non- toxic immune modulator (since the total phenol content present in Goya extra virgin olive oil was shown to be 14.90). Phenols are the major groups of compounds revealed to contribute to the observed inhibitory effect of olive oil. Also, the result of the mineral analysis of the Goya extra virgin olive oil showed Goya extra virgin olive oil not to have any traces of lead. Presence of lead may lead to poisoning and can cause a number of adverse human health effect. Hence, Olive oil has a significant non- toxic health building supplements which has a therapeutic effect on Salmonella typhi induced infection.