African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 6 (14), pp. 1677-1680, 18 July 2007   

ISSN 1684–5315 © 2007 Academic Journals        

Full Length Research Paper

Antifungal and antibacterial activities of the ethanolic and aqueous extract of Kigelia africana (Bignoniaceae) stem bark

Omonkhelin J. Owolabi^1*, Eric K. I. Omogbai¹ and Osahon Obasuyi²

¹Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Benin, Edo State, Nigeria.

²Department of Pharmaceutical microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Benin. Edo State, Nigeria.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: josphineomo@yahoo.com. Tel: 08034120318.

Accepted 24 May, 2007

Studies on the antibacterial and antifungal activities of the stem bark of Kigelia africana, (LAM). Benth (Family: Bignoniaceae), a medicinal plant used in South, Central and West Africa for the treatment of various ailments and infection was carried out using agar diffusion technique. The results revealed that the crude ethanolic extract exhibited antibacterial and antifungal activities against Staphylococccus aureus and Candida albicans with zones of inhibition measuring 15.0±0.95 and 20.75±4.6mm respectively. The aqueous extract exhibited no antibacterial or antifungal activity. The minimum inhibitory concentration for the extract was 6.25 ± 1.07 mg/ml for S. aureus and 7.92 ± 1.52 mg/ml for C. albicans. The ethanolic extract was also compared with various standards; Ampicillin, Gentamicin, Ceftriaxone and Ciprofloxacin. The ethanolic extract (20mg/ml) produced similar zone of inhibition with 25µg disc of amoxicillin.

Key words: Kigelia africana, antimicrobial activity, minimum inhibitory concentration.