Screening of Eight Plants Used In Folkloric Medicine for the Treatment of Typhoid Fever

Abstract

Aqueous, ethanol and chloroform extracts of some pl ants used Igala folkloric medicine of NorthCentral Nigeria for the treatment of typhoid fever were investigated for their antibacterial properties against Salmonella typhi. Screening for the antibacterial activity was carried out by using a modification of the agar well diffusion tec hnique. The extracts that showed significant antibacterial activity were further investigated fo r their Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations [MIC]. The aqueous extract of D. oliveri and the et hanol extract of M. indica had MIC of ≤12.5mg/ml which was comparable to that of gentamyci n and better than those of amoxicillin and chloramphenicol, 25mg/ml and 100mg/ml respectiv ely. However, the aqueous extract of N. latifolia which had an MIC of 25mg/ml had the wides t zone of inhibition of all the extracts investigated from 25mg/ml to 100mg/ml concentration of the extracts. Thus weight for weight, the aqueous extract of N. latifolia was the most po tent at higher concentrations. The results obtained validate the use of A. occidentale, A. vog elii Planch, D. oliveri, M. indica and N. latifolia in Igala folkloric medicine for the treatment of typhoid fever.