Curcuma longa is a widely used plant in folk medicine. In this study, we assessed the action of the ethanolic extract of C. longa on WHO strains of Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi and Salmonella enterica serotype Enteritidis. Curcumin is one of the most active ingredients of C. longa. In the presence of the ethanolic extract of C. longa, the bacterial count of both Salmonella was remarkably increased which was statistically highly significant. We also could not demonstrate MIC value even at 50 mg/ml concentration of the extract in Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi, while Salmonella enterica serotype Enteritidis only showed MIC value at a very high concentration of 6.25 mg/ml. However, two common bacteria E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus showed a MIC value of 0.39 and 3.125 mg/ml respectively. Thus, the use of C. longa in materials for public use should be done cautiously.

Keywords: Curcuma longa, Curcumin, antimicrobial action, minimum inhibitory concentration, Salmonella entericaserotype Typhi, Salmonella entericaserotype Enteritidis.