Four ethno varieties of Lasianthera africana are used in Nigeria to treat microbial diseases including dysentery, diarrhoea and skin diseases. The ethanol extracts, n-hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, butanol and aqueous fractions of the leaves of the four varieties were evaluated for antimicrobial activities against Staphylococcus aureus NCIB 8588, Bacillus subtilis NCIB 3610, Escherichia coli NCIB 86, Proteus vulgaris NCIB 67, Pseudomonas aeruginosa NCIB 950, Klebsiella pneumonia NCIB 418, Candida albicans and Aspergillus flavus, using agar diffusion and tube dilution techniques. Among the extracts, the ethanol extract of the leaves of black variety gave the best antimicrobial activity, while the ethanol extract of the forest variety exhibited the least. The fractions derived from the extracts generally elicited better activity. However, no extracts or fractions showed any activity against A. flavus. The most inhibitory effect was elicited by the ethyl acetate fraction of the black variety against E. coli, while the least effect was shown by butanol fraction of the forest variety against P. vulgaris and ethyl acetate fraction of the riverine variety against S. aureus. Aqueous fractions of all the varieties showed no antimicrobial effect against any of the organisms tested. The minimum inhibitory concentration of the extracts and fractions ranged between 25 and 250 µg/mL.
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