Asian Science
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Abstract: The antimicrobial activities of the acetone, methanol
and water extracts from the leaves, stems and roots of this herb were
investigated against 10 bacterial and 5 fungal species using the dilution
method on solid agar medium. The acetone extracts from the leaf and root
were active against Gram-positive bacteria with Minimum Inhibitory Concentration
(MIC) ranging between 1.0 and 7.0 mg mL-1, whereas the acetone
stem extract was able to inhibit all the bacterial strains at 0.5-7.0
mg mL-1. The methanol extracts of the 3 plant parts showed
activity against all the bacterial isolates with MIC values ranging between
0.1 and 10.0 mg mL-1. Again all the extracts exhibited appreciable
activity against all the fungi species investigated. The methanol extract
of the root showed 100% inhibition against Aspergillus niger, A.
flavus and Penicilium notatum at 5 mg mL-1 while
it was 88.61% inhibition in Mucor hiemalis. The ability of the
extracts of F. muricata to inhibit the growth of several bacteria
and fungi is an indication of its broad-spectrum antimicrobial potential
which may be employed in the management of bacterial and fungal infections.