Antibacterial Activity of Curry Leaves (Murraya koenigii) Extract on the Drinking Water

The present work reports the effect of antibacterial activity of Murraya koenigii leaves extract to improve the quality of drinking water collected from Moradabad Uttar Pradesh, India and its rural area. The five different water samples were collected and characterized for their properties. During this work, examination of treated and untreated sample water for heavy metals and microbial counts has been done. The curry leaves (Murraya koenigii) show antibacterial property and its extract has been applied in different volumes (5–25 mL) to improve the quality of drinking water and producing safe bacteria-free water for multiple usages. The water samples A, B, C, D, E were also analyzed for metals like Pb, Cr, Cu, Zn, and Cd contents. The total microbial count (TBC) was identified by the pour plate method and membrane filtration method on R2A agar media plates. The biological oxygen demand (BOD) for 5 days and CFU/mL (colony-forming unit/mL) indicated a significant decrease in the reduction of microbial count and biological oxygen demand. This gives evidence for the antibacterial activity of curry leaves extract. During the treatment of raw water samples with extract Pb, Cr, Cu, Zn, and Cd were also coagulated to the maximum extent. The results showed the significant decrease, up to 95% in the microbial counts. Treatment with curry leaves extract also helped in the coagulation of the heavy metals like lead, copper, chromium etc. present in the treated water samples. In control water samples, total bacterial count (TBC) was found to be more than 800 CFU/mL but the total bacterial count in the treated samples was reduced significantly to low value depending on the volume of the extract used. The overall performance of extract was found satisfactory for treating drinking water. This will be an economical and ecofriendly safe method to obtain bacteria-free drinking water at a small and large scale.