Abstract

Felix C. Mills-Robertson*, Frederick A. Aboagye, George Duker-Eshun, Sylvester Kaminta and Samuel Agbeve

The aim of the present study was to investigate in vitro, the effect of three different preparations of Cryptolepis sanguinolenta, obtained from 2 mg/ml each of 70% ethanol, hot and cold aqueous extract, as antimicrobial agents using agar diffusion method. The microbes used in this study consisted of one strain of Salmonella typhimurium , two strains each of Proteus mirabilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans, three strains each of Salmonella typhi, Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumo pneumoniae and four strains of Escherichia coli. The ethanolic extract, inhibited the growth of 85% of the test organisms with zones of inhibition ranging from 16 - 30 mm (averaging 23.8 ± 0.88 mm). The hot water extract, inhibited 75% of the test organisms with zones of inhibition ranging from 13 – 30 (averaging 23.0 ± 1.07 mm) whilst the cold water extract inhibited 75% of the test organisms with zones of inhibition ranging from 8 - 23 mm (averaging 17.2 ± 1.23 mm). Thus, all the three extracts of C. sanguinolenta exhibited different degrees of antimicrobial activity.