ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF GINGER (Zingiber Officinale) EXTRACTS AGAINST FOOD-BORNE PATHOGENIC BACTERIA Kamrul Islam, Asma Afroz Rowsni, Md. Murad Khan and Md. Shahidul Kabir * Department of Microbiology, Stamford University, Bangladesh Email: mskabir@yahoo.com ( * Corresponding Author) Abstract: Ginger (Zingiber officinale) has long been used as naturopathy due to their potential antimicrobial activity against different microbial pathogens. Moreover, in many countries like Bangladesh, ginger is used in different boiled food preparations. This study was conducted to determine the antimicrobial activity of soybean oil extract of dried ginger powder, using agar diffusion assay, against 24 isolates (4 of 6 different types) of food borne pathogens including Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Vibrio cholerae, Klebsiella spp. and Salmonella spp. The present study showed the potent antimicrobial activity of the ginger extract against the all tested bacterial pathogens. Soybean oil extract of ginger showed highest zone of inhibition (11.67±1.53mm) against Salmonella spp. and lowest zone of inhibition (8.0±1.73mm) against Escherichia coli. Ginger extract also showed lower zone of inhibition (8.67±2.52mm) against Staphylococcus aureus compared to the Gram-negative bacteria. Soybean oil extract of ginger at boiling temperature has potential antimicrobial activity and could be used in food preparation to get the synergistic effect of soybean and ginger. Introduction The increased usage of antibiotics has induced microorganisms to acquire resistance factors which have become a burning predicament (Abimbola et al., 1993). As a result there is an urgent need to find the alternative of chemotherapeutic drugs in diseases treatment particularly those of plants origin which are easily available and have considerably less side effects (Khulbe & Sati, 2009). The use of higher plants and their extracts for treating the infectious diseases has long been practiced in many parts of the world (Sofowora, 1984). The plant derived medicines may be used in many different forms including: powder, liquid or mixtures which could be raw or boiled such as, liniments, ointments and incisions (Apata, 1979). Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is a medicinal plant that has been widely used all over the world, since antiquity, for a wide array of unrelated ailments including arthritis, cramps, rheumatism, sprains, sore throats, muscular aches, pains, constipation, vomiting, hypertension, indigestion, dementia, fever and infectious diseases (Ali, 2008). Ginger has International Journal of Science, Environment ISSN 2278-3687 (O) and Technology, Vol. 3, No 3, 2014, 867 – 871 Received Apr 13, 2014 * Published June 2, 2014 * www.ijset.net