&lt;i&gt;In vitro&lt;/i&gt; assessment of the antimicrobial activities of leaf and stem extracts of &lt;i&gt;Alchornea cordifolia&lt;/i&gt;

Aa Owosini,Ad Ayansina,Od Amjo

doi:10.4314/jasem.v19i2.18

Abstract

In vitro assessment of the antimicrobial effect of leaf and stem extracts of a commonly used plant – Alchornea cordifolia was carried out on 10 bacteria and 5 fungi. Five solvents– chloroform, methanol, ethanol, petroleum ether and water were used for extraction. Chloroform extract from leaf and stem resulted in the highest zone of inhibition against the test bacteria (33 – 56mm). Ethanol extracts showed inhibition zone ranging between 10 – 14mm; methanol extract showed inhibition zone of 13 – 21mm only for the leaf extract. Petroleum ether extract of only the stem resulted in inhibition of the test bacteria (10 – 15mm). Leaf and stem water extracts did not result in any zone of inhibition. Only chloroform extracts from both leaf and stem resulted in fungal growth inhibition ranging from 22 – 60mm (leaf) and 14 – 40mm (stem). Staphylococcus haemolyticus was most sensitive to leaf chloroform extracts (50mm), followed by E. coli (49mm); while Samonella sp. was the most sensitive to stem extracts (56mm). Rhizopus sp. was the most sensitive to both chloroform leaf extracts (60mm) and stem extracts (40mm) out of the 5 fungi screened. The highest minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) of 0.125mg/ml was obtained from the leaf chloroform extract on Pseudomonas sp . The implication of the findings was discussed.

Highlights

The global need for alternative prevention and treatment options and products for diseases that are safe, effective and economical comes from the rise in disease incidence (Tichy and Novak, 1998)
In this report we investigated the antimicrobial effects of leaf and stem extracts of Alchornea cordifolia on some microorganisms associated with common diseases in the tropics
The ethanol leaf extract gave a zone of inhibition of 14mm against Staphylococcus aureus, followed by 12mm against

Summary

Introduction

The global need for alternative prevention and treatment options and products for diseases that are safe, effective and economical comes from the rise in disease incidence (Tichy and Novak, 1998). The extracting solvents were chloroform, ethanol, methanol, petroleum ether and sterile distilled water. The extracting solvents, chloroform, petroleum ether, methanol, ethanol and water were used as negative control. The methanol leaf extract was active with the highest zone of inhibition being 21mm against the Gram positive bacterium Staphylococcus aureus.

Results

Conclusion