The antimicrobial activities of crude methanolic extracts of Basella alba on selected microorganisms

Abstract

The antimicrobial effects of Basella alba against Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, and Candida albican was determined using the agar cup plate method. The phytochemical components of the crude methanolic extracts of the leaf and stem of B. alba indicates the presence of tannin, terpene, steroid, saponin, anthraquinone, and with carbohydrate only in the stem extracts. The result of this study showed that all the organisms except Candida albican were susceptible to 60mg/ml and 100mg/ml. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) were also determined. The result obtained showed that the MIC for the crude methanolic extract of the leaf and stem extract of P. aeruginosa, E. coli and S. aureus was 50mg/ ml, while the MBC was 50mg/ml for P. aeruginosa, E. coli and for S. aureus was 100mg/ml. The result of this study suggests that the crude methanolic extracts of B. alba could be suitable for the treatment of diseases caused by S. aureus, P.aeruginosa and E.coli.