Comparative Antimicrobial Activity of Lagenaria breviflora Whole Fruit and Curculigo pilosa Rhizome against Some Clinically Significant Pathogens

Medicinal plants have historically been a rich source of bioactive compounds with therapeutic potential and antimicrobial properties. In this research, 2kg each of Lagenaria breviflora and Curculigo pilosa were obtained from Bode market, Ibadan and authenticated at the herbarium section of the Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria (FRIN), Ibadan. Typed strains of Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans were obtained from the Microbiology section, University College Hospital, Ibadan. Crude extract of the plants was carried out using ethanol extraction for 72 hours followed by a qualitative analysis of the Phytochemicals in the extracts. In-vitro antimicrobial assays based on the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) of the raw, 100 mg/mL, 50 mg/mL, 25 mg/mL, and 12.5 mg/mL extracts were also carried out following standard microbiological methods. Descriptive statistics and ANOVA at α0.05 was used to analyze the data. The phytochemical composition of both plants showed that they contained tannins, saponins, and terpenoid while flavonoids were only present in L. breviflora. At 100 mg/mL of the plant extracts, there was an overall high level of inhibition in the growth of the Staphylococcus aureus with an average inhibitory zone diameter of 11.5±1.5 mm and 16.5±0.7 mm in L. breviflora and C. pilosa respectively while at a concentration of 12.55 mg/mL there was no growth inhibition of the test pathogens. In L. breviflora, the MIC was observed for 100 mg/mL in Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans with an average zone inhibition of 0.987±0.02 mm and 0.956±0.03 mm, respectively while for C. pilosa, the MIC was observed in the raw extract for Candida albicans with an average inhibition zone of 0.997±0.02 mm. This study revealed that L. breviflora and C. pilosa extracts show potential antimicrobial activity against clinical pathogens, including Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and yeast.