INTRODUCTION
Plants remain the most common source of antimicrobial agents. Their usage as traditional health remedies is the most popular for 80% of world population in Asia, Latin America and Africa and is reported to have minimal side effects1,2. In recent years, pharmaceutical companies have spent a lot of time and money in developing natural products extracted from plants, to produce more cost effective remedies that are affordable to the population. The rising incidence in multidrug resistance amongst pathogenic microbes has further necessitated the need to search for newer antibiotic sources. Tamarindus indica Linn. (commonly called Tamarind), family Fabaceae, subfamily caesalpiniaceae is a tropical evergreen tree native to fertile areas throughout Africa and Southern Asia. It is widely cultivated as an ornamental tree and for its acidic fruits used in making drinks and a popular component of many decoctions used as health remedies. In Northern Nigeria, the fresh stem bark and fresh leaves are used as decoction mixed with potash for the treatment of stomach disorder, general body pain, jaundice, yellow fever and as blood tonic and skin cleanser. Because of its wide usage and availability, this study was set out to investigatetheantimicrobialactivityoftheplant and to determine the effect of temperature and pH on the efficacy of the plant as an antimicrobial agent.