African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 5 (4), pp. 369-372, 16 February 2006   

ISSN 1684–5315 © 2006 Academic Journals        

Full Length Research Paper

Antimicrobial activity of Solanum tomentosum

A. A. Aliero and A. J. Afolayan*

Department of Botany, University of Fort Hare, Alice, 5700, South Africa.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: Aafolayan@ufh.ac.za.

Accepted 14 October, 2005

Acetone, methanol and water extracts from the leaves of Solanum tomentosum were investigated for their antimicrobial activities. Growth inhibition was determined using agar dilution assays against ten selected bacterial and three fungal species. Acetone and methanol extracts were active against the Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria at a concentration of 5 mg/ml. None of the extracts inhibited the growth of Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonae and Penicillium notatum.  The activities of the extracts on the test fungi were generally low. Methanol extracts was particularly suppressive to the growth of fungi with inhibitory percentage ranging from 47.22 to 50.56% on Aspergillus niger and Fusarium oxysporum.      

Key words: Solanum tomentosum, Solanaceae, antimicrobial, antibacterial, antifungal.