The aim of this research is to comparatively study the phytochemical and
antimicrobial properties of
Bryophyllum pinnatum
and
Citrus aurantifolia
leaf extracts and
their synergy.
Escherichia coli
,
Staphylococcus aureus
,
Klebsiella pneumoniae
, and
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
,
Aspergillus niger
,
Mucor mucedo
,
Penicillium notatum
and
Candida albicans
, were used as test organisms and the antimicrobial activity of the extracts
was determined by the agar-well diffusion method. Synergistic antibacterial activity ranged
from 0.0 ± 0.0 to 2.4 ± 0.6, 11.3 ± 0.9 to 23.5 ± 1.1, 16.7 ± 0.3 to 27.3 ± 0.6 and 8.7 ± 0.9 to
22.7 ± 0.9, for aqueous, ethanol, methanol and acetone extracts respectively. Extracts of
C.
aurantifolia were more effective against the test organisms than
B. pinnatum extracts,
except the aqueous extract. Synergistic antifungal activity of the aqueous extract was 0.0 ±
0.0 mm for all the test fungi, the synergistic antifungal activity ranged from 8.7 ± 0.6 mm to
14.0 ± 0.9 mm, 10.0 ± 0.9 mm to 21.7 ± 0.6 mm and 0.0 ± 0.0 mm to 20.0 ± 0.6 mm for the
ethanol, methanol and acetone extract respectively. Larger zones of inhibition were
observed in the methanol extract of the synergy than the other extracting solvents. The
synergy gave higher zones of inhibition neither
B. pinnatum extract nor
C. aurantifolia
extract could give. It was also observed that the extracts compared well with the standard
antimicrobial agents used as positive control. The phytochemical analysis of the extract
revealed the presence of phytochemical constituents which conferred antimicrobial property
on the plants. From the foregoing, the methanol extract of the synergy is considered the
most effective in the treatment of infections caused by the test organisms.