| dc.description.abstract | Background:
Acmella caulirhiza
is a plant that is used traditionally to treat sev
eral disorders such as mouth ulcers,
sore throat, toothache and earache, among others. I
t is a small annual or perennial herb whose locatio
n is widespread
worldwide.
Objectives:
The objective of the study was to determine whethe
r the leaves, stem and the flowers extract of the p
lant
possess antibacterial and antifungal activity and t
o find out which part of the plant is the most acti
ve, if any
.
Methodology:
Acmella caulirhiza
was collected from the wild in Kericho County. The
flower heads, the leaves and the
stems were dried separately, ground into a powder a
nd extracted with chloroform. The plant extracts we
re tested for
activity against
Escherichia Coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Candida al
bicans and Bacillus pumilus.
Results and Discussion:
The plant extracts inhibited the growth of
Escherichia Coli, Staphylococcus aureus and
Bacillus pumilus.
The activity was highest in the stems extracts. Th
e extracts, however, did not have any anti-fungal
activity when tested against
Candida albicans
. It was concluded from these results that the anti
-bacterial activity may
aid in the efficacy when the plant is used to treat
mouth ulcers or sore throat.
Key words:
Acmella caulirhiza
, anti-fungal activity, anti-bacterial activity, tr
aditional medicine | en_US |
