Ocimum gratissimum Capped Sulfur Nanoparticles and Antibacterial Efficacy against Multidrug-Resistant Microbes

This manuscript reports for the first time synthesis of sulfur nanoparticles prepared from thiosulphatepentahydrate ( ) using either oxalic acid alone ( ), or mixture of oxalic acid and aqueous solution of Ocimum gratissimum ( ). The synthesized sulfur nanoparticles were obtained in satisfactory yields, and characterized with techniques such asUV-Vis, XRD, SEM, EDX, TEM, and FT-IR. Presence of capping agents: Oxalic acid and biomolecule contents of Ocimum gratissimum were confirmed by FTIR. Crystallinity, morphology, shapes and elemental compositions of as-prepared nanoparticles were confirmed by XRD, SEM, TEM and EDX, respectively. Antimicrobial activities of the prepared sulfur nanoparticles against five (5) multidrug-resistant microbes were used for this research work. This included Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Salmonella pullorum. The zone of inhibition of the sulfur nanoparticles tested against selected clinical isolates. Staphylococcus aureus was observed to have the highest susceptibility to sulfur nanoparticles ( ) mediated with Ocimum gratissimum plant extract with diameter of 21.0mm; E.coli and Salmonella P. aeruginosa showed resistance. All tested clinical isolates were resistant to the other sulfur nanoparticles (SNP1) synthesized in the absence of Ocimum gratissimum plant extract.