EVALUATION OF THE ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITIES OF METHANOL AND AQUEOUS EXTRACT OF LEPTADENIA HASTATA ROOT ON CLINICAL ISOLATES

Using the plant as a source of medicine is one of the major campaigns in the field of alternative therapy. This study was conducted to investigate the antimicrobial activity of Leptadenia hastate root. The root of this plant was collected, dried, and ground. The powder was subjected to extraction by cold maceration using water and methanol. The in-vitro antimicrobial activity of the extract was tested against four strains of bacteria: Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, E. coli, Bacillus cereus and one fungus Candida albicans using the agar diffusion method. DMSO was used as a negative control; Ciprofloxacin was used as a positive control for bacteria and fluconazole as a positive control for fungi. The agar dilution method determined the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of crude extract. The phytochemical analysis was conducted to determine the secondary metabolites. The antimicrobial activities show that methanol extract of Leptadenia hastate was only sensitive against Bacillus cereus and Candida albicans out of five organisms tested, while aqueous extract does not show activity against any organism tested. MIC of methanol extract of Leptadenia hastate against Candida albicans and Bacillus cereus was 125 mg/ml. The phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of alkaloids, tannins, flavonoids, saponins, terpenoids, and other bioactive components. The result suggested that the methanol and aqueous extract of Leptadenia hastate contains various pharmacology active compounds. There is a need for further study on the crude extract of this plant in order to identify and purify the active ingredients.