Traditional healers have successfully used several species of the genus
Ficus to cure several ailments
such as; diarrhea, dysentery, cuts, wounds, mumps, cholera, and jaundice.
Ficus natalensis being of the same genus
was screened for the presence of phytochemicals and antimicrobial effects. Phytochemical investigation of crude
extracts of
F. natalensis showed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, carbohydrates, saponins, tannins, glycosides,
steroids, triterpenes and anthraquinones. The crude hexane, et
hyla
cetate and methanol fractions had inhibitory effects
on
Staphylococcus aureus
,
Streptococcus pyrogenes
,
Escherichia coli
,
Candida krusei
,and
Candida tropicalis
.
Minimum bactericidal/fungicidal concentrations (MBC)/(MFC) and Minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) were
carried out on the extracts using the two fold serial dilution method at concentrations of 20 mg/mL, 10 mg/mL, 5
mg/mL, 2.5 mg/mL and 0.63 mg/mL but the crude extracts did not show inhibitory effect on
Methicillin resistant
Staphylococcusaureus,
Shigeila dysenteriae
,
Vancomycin resistant enterococci,
and Campylobacter jejuni
.The result
in this work agrees with the ethno-medicinal claim on this specie of the genus.
