Antibacterial Activities of Different Brands of Deodorants Marketed in Owerrri, Imo State, Nigeria

Body odour caused by bacterial growth is of great concern to those affected. To ameliorate this, deodorants, which are substances applied to avert body odour, are designed and used. These deodorants are claimed to have antibacterial activities. This work was therefore, carried out to determine the antibacterial activities of the deodorants marketed in Owerri municipality. Owerri is the capital of Imo State of Nigeria. To determine this, twenty (20) deodorants from ten (10) different manufacturers made up of fourteen (14) roll-on and six (6) sprays were assessed using punch -hole plate diffusion technique on nutrient agar plates. The deodorants were purchased from Ekeonunwa market, New market, Relief market, and some supper markets, all in Owerri Municipality. These deodorants were tested against Laboratory isolates of Staphylococcus epidermidis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli and Proteus mirabilis obtained from Federal Medical Centre (FMC) and Modesty Medical Laboratory Owerri and reconfirmed using morphological and biochemical tests. Out of the twenty (20) deodorants tested, 18 (90%) were active against the organisms, 17 (85%) were active against Staphylococcus epidermidis, 15 (75%) against P. mirabilis, 11 (55%) against E. coli and 10 (50%) against P. aeruginosa. It was also observed that deodorants “roll - on” were more active 14 (100%) than the deodorants “sprays” 4 (66.6%). From this study, it was observed that the deodorants tested had antibacterial activities.