Abstract
Traditional medicine practitioners make use of medicines which are plant-derived to treat diseases. These are usually sourced from their local environment with a history of curing many different ailments. Acalypha ornate is one such local plant which is native to the tropics and has been claimed to cure bacterial and fungal infections. This study investigated the in vitro antimicrobial and anti-fungal activities of water and methanol leaf extracts of Acalypha ornata against five clinical bacteria and four fungi isolates. This was done in order to verify its claimed use by natives in traditional medicine for the treatment of bacterial and fungal infections, particularly in children. The water and methanol leaf extracts were found to inhibit the growth of clinical isolate strains of bacteria including Klebsiella pneumonia, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli. The leaf extracts were also shown to have some antifungal activity. The growth of Trichophyton rubrum and Trichophyton mentagrophytes was reduced. No inhibitory effect was recorded against Aspergillus flavus and Candida albicans. This study provides scientific evidence to support the ethno-medicinal uses of the plant for the treatment of skin infections, therefore merits further studies to isolate the bioactive compounds responsible for the observed activities. (C) 2012 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.