Antibacterial Activity Of Leaf Extracts Of Colocasia Esculenta And Caladium Bicolor On Clinical Isolates

ABSTRACT

 Two extracts from two Nigeria medicinal plants, Colocasia esculenta and Caladium bicolor were screened for antibacterial activities using disc diffusion and micro dilution broth assays. Methanol extracts of each of the plants were tested against four microorganisms consisting of two Gram positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus faecalis) and two Gram negative bacteria (Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa). The antibacterial activity was measured by the diameter zone of inhibition and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). The extracts exhibited moderate broad spectrum antibacterial activities against the microorganisms. The diameter of zone of inhibition ranges from I 0mm-15mm at 2000mg/ml of crude extract per disc. The MIC values were between 125mg/ml-1 00mg/ml. The activities of some of the crude extracts were comparable to the reference antibiotics (Gentamicin) at standard concentration per disc. These findings have shown the potentials of these extracts for antibacterial activities against clinical isolates.