Ethnobotanical study of some selected medicinal plants used by traditional healers in Limpopo Province (South Africa)

Ten plant species were collected from the Nelspruit Botanical Garden based on their uses by traditional healers in Limpopo Province of South Africa. Hexane, dichloromethane (DCM), acetone and methanolic extracts of this plants were screened for antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853, Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212 and Escherichiacoli ATCC 25922. Ampicillin was used as the positive control. Methanol extract of Kirkia acuminata, acetone extracts of Maytenus senegalensis and Millettia stuhlmannii were the most active with average minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of 0.32 to 0.33 mg/ml. E. faecalis was the most sensitive microorganism with the average MIC value of 0.25 mg/ml and S. aureus was resistant with average MIC value of 1.18 mg/ml. Acetone extracts for all plants had lower MIC values ranging between 0.02 – 0.63 mg/ml. Average total activity, a measure of potency, was highest for acetone and methanol extract of Maytenus udanta 1352 and 2022 ml/g respectively and followed by acetone extract of Maytenus udanta (1640 ml/g). Most of the selected plants have shown great potential as antibacterial agents.