Phytochemical and antimicrobial activity of Ceiba pentanra against some clinical pathogenic bacteria

Many of the plant materials used in traditional medicine are readily available in rural areas and thus have made traditional medicine relatively cheaper than modern medicine. Plants generally produce many secondary metabolites and these constitute an important source of microbiocides, pesticides and many pharmaceutical drugs. Ceiba pentandra is naturally present in equatorial Africa and naturalized in all the humid tropics including Nigeria. Ethyl acetate, ethanol and aqueous leave extract of Ceiba pentandra were assayed against clinical isolates of S. aureus, P.vulgaris, E. coli and K. pneumoniae by agar diffusion method. All the extracts showed antimicrobial activity against all the test organisms. K. pneumoniae was the most susceptible to the plant extracts while E. coli was the most resistant. The minimum inhibitory concentration of the plant extracts against the test organisms ranged between 15μg/mLto30μg/mL The minimum bactericidal concentration of the extracts was within the ranges of 15μg/mL and 35μg/mL Ethyl acetate extract of leaf of Ceiba pentandra appeared to be more effective than aqueous or ethanol extract as antimicrobial agent against all the test bacteria. The results obtained may suggest that the plant extracts possess useful antimicrobial properties.