EVALUATION OF “OGI” LIQUORS FROM THREE GUINEA CORN VARIETIES FOR ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITIES AGAINST SELECTED BACTERIAL AND FUNGAL ISOLATES

The inhibitory activities of raw ogi liquors from three varieties of guinea corn grains (red, yellow and white) were investigated using agar diffusion assay against selected pathogens: Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Shigella dysenteriae, Aspergillus niger and Rhizopus nigricans. The red guinea corn hot water steep liquor had higher inhibition (9.8mm) against E. coli than the cold water liquor. Also, the hot water steep liquors of the white and yellow guinea corns had higher antibacterial activities (8.5mm against Shigella dysenteriae and 9mm against E. coli) than their cold water liquors. Hot water steep liquor of the red grain gave the lowest MIC (50%) against E. coli. However, only the cold steep liquors gave inhibition against S. aureus. The various liquors from hot and cold water steeped grains had no inhibitory activity on the test fungi. Lactobacillus species were the predominant bacteria that survived the fermentation process after 24hours. The differences in the mean inhibitory activities of both hot and cold water steeped liquors of the red, white and yellow guinea corns were not significant (P <0.05). Ogi liquor could be administered to people with diarrhoea especially people found in rural areas where immediate antibiotic therapy may be lacking or not readily available during diarrhoeal outbreaks.