EFFICACY OF ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF GARLIC EXTRACTS ON BACTERIAL PATHOGENS COMMONLY FOUND TO CONTAMINATE MEAT

Meat is amajor source of food and raw materials for a number of industries, yet a lot of meat is wasted each year due to deterioration as a result of spoilage by microorganisms such as Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, Moraxella, Bacillus, Campylobacter, Escherichia, Listeria, Clostridium, Salmonella and Staphylococcus species. To determine efficacy of antimicrobial activity of garlic extracts on bacterial pathogens commonly found to contaminate meat. A cross sectional study. The Department of Public Health, Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine University of Nairobi. Garlic from Nganoini farm in Laikipia County, Kenya. The results indicated that garlic absolute ethanol extract had the highest efficacy of antimicrobial activity inhibiting all test micro-organisms. Ethanolic extract can be used as a meat preservative or decontaminant.