Antibacterial Potency of Ethnobotanical Plants as Alternative Remedies to Curtail Nosocomial Infections: A Case Study of Five Native Plants in Kenya

Aim: The current study was done to investigate the antibacterial potentiality of five ethnobotanical plants used in Kenya as remedies in the treatment against selected nosocomial infectious bacteria.
Materials: The plant samples were collected in the months of June and July. The samples were identified in the Department of Biological Sciences. Voucher specimens were prepared and stored in the department of biological sciences herbarium.
Methodology: The plant leaves samples were dried, powdered and extracted using methanol and water in the ratio 9:1. The samples were vacuum filtered using Whatman no.1 filter paper. The solvents were removed using a rotar vapor with a water bath at 40ºC. The bioassays were done using well diffusion method followed by incubation at 37ºC for 24hrs and then the zones of inhibition diameters measured with the aid of a ruler in millimeters (mm).
Results: From the results Tetradenia riparia had the best zones of inhibition as compared to all of the other four plants used in the study. Tetradenia riparia highly inhibited Staphylococcus epidermidis 27.67±0.333 mm, followed by Bacillus cereus 18.00±0.577 mm and Escherichia coli with an inhibition zone of 13.33±0.333 mm. Penicillin which was used as the positive control inhibited the growth of all the microorganisms while dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) did not inhibit the growth any of the microorganisms.
Conclusion: The results obtained in this research may be an indication that the five plants can be good sources for antiseptic solutions and new drugs in the fight against hospital acquired infections. However, further research needs to be done to isolate the pure compounds from the plants, study their structural elucidation and their mode of action. Formulations of solutions with aseptic activity need to be done especially on Tetradenia riparia which demonstrated the highest activity against the microorganisms.