Screening of antibacterial and antifungal activities of ten medicinal plants from Ghana

Abstract

The screening of African medicinal plants, utilized in traditional herbal remedies in Ghana West Africa for their antibacterial and antifungals activities, is reported in this paper. Of ten plants tested, extracts of five (Phyllanthus niruri, Ageratum conyzoides, Acanthospermum hispidum, Cassia alata, and Sida acuta) had activity against the Gram positive microorganism Staphylococcus aureus including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). None of these ten plants have previously had their anti-MRSA activity or lack of activity documented. Hexane extracts from three plants (Portulaca quadrifida, Ageratum conyzoides, and Newbouldia lavis) show remarkable anti-fungal activity against Aspergillus fumigatus. Four plants (Phyllanthus niruri, Portulaca quadrifida, Ageratum conyzoides, and Newbouldia laevis) have strong anti-Candida activity. This paper may be the first documentation of Portulaca quadrifida in vitro anti-C. albicans and anti-A. fumigatus activity.