Abstract

A. A. Aliero* and S. H. Wara

Leptadenia hastata (Pers.) Decne is a wild plant used as vegetable by many African populations and medicine due to its nutritive and therapeutic properties for the treatment of wounds and stomach upset in children. Acetone, methanol and aqueous extracts from its leaves were investigated against five selected bacterial species and two fungal species. Aqueous extract markedly inhibited the growth of Salmonella paratyphi and Escherichia coli at 30 mg/ml and Pseudomonas aeruginosa at 60 mg/ml. The activity exhibited by the methanol extract was generally low and acetone extract did not show any activity against the tested organisms. The result of antimycotic assay showed that methanol extract suppressed the growth of Fusarium oxysporum and Aspergillus niger at 80 mg/ml with inhibition percentages ranging from 58.89 to 73.30%. The activity of acetone extract was low with 40 and 50% inhibition on the growth of A. niger and F. oxysporum respectively. The result obtained in this study has provided a scientific support for the claimed ethnomedical uses of aqueous extracts of L. hastata in the treatment of bacterial diseases and suggest the potential of methanol extract as a source of antifungal agent.