Neem Leaves Smoke in Controlling Airborne Bacteria in Residential Premises

Neem tree (Azadirachta indica) belongs to family Meliaceae grows naturally in Asian countries, especially Indian sub-continent, both under subtropical and tropical regions. It has shown adaptability in Arabian countries with dry hot desert agroecological conditions. Neem tree is known to have medicinal properties since long. It has been reported earlier that, its different parts contained several medicinal, insecticidal and antibacterial properties.

Different parts of the Neem are used for making many medicinal and insecticidal formulations and neem cake as biofertilizer. Neem leaves are often used for creating smoke for warding off insects and flies in premises of animal and human habitation.

The petri plates containing bacterial agar nutrient medium were placed on Cassella airborne bacteria monitor (silt) and exposed in two type environments (ambient environment and smoke leaves treated environment) at four places i.e., Kitchen, dinning hall and two meeting hall (majlis). In present study, it was observed that; at all the studied places, bacterial growth was checked after creating the neem leaves smoke, therefore, a clear-cut differences between the petri plates exposed to ambient environment and the neem leaves smoke treated environment with respect to bacterial colony development was noticed. Bacterial colonies were developed in all the plates exposed to ambient environment of the rooms, whereas no bacterial colonies were observed in neem leaves smoke treated environment. 

The present study support that the neem leaves smoke has  potential bactericidal properties. From this preliminary study it could be concluded that neem leaves smoke can be used for inhibiting bacterial development and or clearing the environment from the bacteria in the premises. However, further investigations on the effect of neem leaves smoke in controlling particular bacterial strains/populations are required.

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                           DOI: 10.3923/crb.2008.64.66