Phytochemical studies and in vitro antimicrobial activity of extracts of garcinia kola

Abstract

As a result of the development of resistance of microorganisms to older antimicrobial agents, there is need for a search for new agents, which are effective for the treatment of infections. The crude aqueous and ethanolic extracts of Garcinia kola fruits were assayed against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae. The results revealed that the plant extracts possess inhibitory effect against the microorganisms tested. The minimum inhibitory concentration of the plant extracts ranged between 20 mg/ml and 45 mg/ml. There was a change in the antibacterial activity of the test extracts on variation of temperature. The results obtained may suggest that the plant extract could serve as a source of industrial drugs useful in chemotherapy of some microbial infections.