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Antimicrobial activity of
some medicinal plants used for the treatment of tuberculosis
in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa
L. V. Buwa and A. J.
Afolayan*
Department
of Botany, University of Fort Hare, Private Bag X1314, Alice
5700, South Africa.
Corresponding author. E-mail:
aafolayan@ufh.ac.za.
Tel.:+27406022323.
Fax:
+27866282295.
Accepted
10 February, 2009 |
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Artemisia afra
Jacq. Ex Willd., Carpobrotus edulis L. and
Tulbaghia violacea Harv. were screened for
activity against Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli,
Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus
and Mycobacterium aurum A+ strain using a
two-fold microdilution bioassay. M. aurum is
tuberculosis (TB) related strain that was used in this
study. These plants were selected based on their use by
South African traditional healers for the treatment of TB
and symptoms of the disease. All three plants were extracted
with water, ethanol and dichloromethane. The extracts of
A. afra were found to be active against all the tested
microorganisms. Only in the instance of A. afra and
C. edulis did water extract show activity against
M. aurum A+ strain. The ethanol extract of C. edulis
showed very good activity against the Gram-positive bacteria
only. Dichloromethane extracts of T. violacea were
found to be highly active against all the microorganisms,
except for K. pneumoniae.
Key
words:
Medicinal plants, tuberculosis, antibacterial activity,
Mycobacterium aurum. |
