Antibacterial and Antifungal Activities of Nine Medicinal Plants from Zaire

Abstract

Zairean medicinal plants were extracted and screened for in vitro antibacterial and antifungal activities. Of nine plants investigated, extracts of six plants (Alchornea cordifolia, Bridelia ferruginea, Eucalyptus citriodora, Hymenocardia acida, Maprounea africana and Sida rhombifolia) demonstrated a marked antibacterial activity against the microorganisms Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus mutans; and extracts of four plants (A. cordifolia, E. citriodora, M. africana and S. rhombifolia) exhibited significant antifungal activity against Aspergillus niger, Candida albicans and Microsporum gypseum. Extracts from A. cordifolia and M. africana were the most active with a MIC value of 62.5 μg/ml. Fractionation of the crude methanol extracts revealed that the bactericidal and fungicidal constituents of the active plants were mainly distributed in their ethyl acetate and aqueous fractions. These results may provide a basis for the isolation of compounds of biological interest from these medicinal plants.