Antibiotic screening of plants used to treat infectious diseases in Kenya

• Main Author: Mutta, Doris N.
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/4524

This thesis presents a documentation of plants used in traditional medicine for infectious diseases in Kenya, followed by an analysis of antimicrobial activities of their methanolic extracts. In the first part of this study discussions were held with herbalists from around the Arabuko Sokoke forest in Kilifi District and various other parts in Kenya. A total of 56 species belonging to 32 families were documented to treat infections of the gastrointestinal tract, skin and sexually transmitted diseases. This documentation effort will contribute towards preservation of the fragile indigenous knowledge currently threatened by influences of modernization. In the second part, a total of 60 extracts from 54 species were tested against selected pathogenic bacteria i.e. the acid fast bacterium - Mycobacterium phlei, four strains of gram positive bacteria -Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus K147, S. aureus MR P0017 and Streptococcus faecalis, four strains of gram negative bacteria - Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa H187, P. aeruginosa H188, Salmonella typhimurium and two strains of yeast fungi Candida albicans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. A total of 43 extracts of 39 nine species were active against at least one microorganism most of them having a strong link between the disease they are used to treat traditionally and the impact on the responsible bacteria and fungi. This linkage provides evidence for the presence of antibiotic substances and establishes, to some extent, the efficacy of the herbal remedies used for infectious diseases.