The antimicrobial activities of ethanolic extracts of Basella alba on selected microorganisms

Abstract

The agar cup diffusion method was used to determine the antimicrobial effects of ethanolic extract 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 ethanolic extracts of the leaf and stem of B. alba showed 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. of extract. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) were also determined. The result obtained showed that the MIC and MBC for the ethanolic extract of the leaf and stem of P. aeruginosa, E. coli was 50mg/ml, while the MIC and MBC of S. aureus was 100mg/ml for the ethanolic extract of the leaf and stem of B. alba. The result of this study suggests that the ethanolic extracts of B. alba could be suitable for the treatment of diseases caused by S. aureus, P. aeruginosa and E. coli.