Anti-fungal and anti-bacterial activity of some herbal remedies from Tanzania

Plants are not only important to the millions of people to whom traditional medicine serves as the only opportunity for health care and to those who use plants for various purposes in their daily lives, but also as a source of new pharmaceuticals. During interviews with the Pare people from Northeastern Tanzania, 29 plants that are used for medicinal purposes as well as 41 plants used for non-medicinal purposes were reported. Six medicinally used plants were selected for bioactivity analysis. Extracts of Coccinia adoensis, Cineraria grandiflora, Favonia urens, Marattia fraxinea. Clutia ablyssinica var. usambarica, and Vangueria infausta were made using ethyl acetate, methanol, cold water and boiling water. The antimicrobial activity was tested on Candida albicans, Aspergillus fumigatus, Fusarium culmorum, Stapkylococcus aureus, Pseudontonas syringae, and Erwinia amylovora. All plants showed activity against several test organisms. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.