Antibacterial and antifungal screening of extracts from six medicinal plants collected in Kinshasa-Democratic Republic of Congo against clinical isolate pathogens

Results from the in vitro evaluation of the antibacterial and antifungal activities of six plant extracts indicated that the aqueous and the methanol extracts of Acalypha wilkesiana leaves and Ageratum conyzoides leaves exhibited good and efficient antifungal activity against Candida albicans with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 31.25 µg/ml and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) of 62.5 µg/ml) while the methanol extract from Pentaclethra macrophylla inhibited the yeast growth with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) values of 62.5 and 125 µg/ml respectively. The aqueous extracts from Acalypha wilkesiana, Ageratum conyzoides, Buccholzia tholoniana seeds, Gulboutia demeusei root and the aqueous and methanol extracts from Pentaclecthra macrophylla stem bark showed good antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli, Klebsiella oxytoca, Proteus mirabilis, Salmonella thyphimurium, Stahylococcus aureus and Shigella flexneri with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 62.5 µg/ml and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of 125 µg/ml according to the case. These results partly support and justify the traditional use of these plant extracts for treating infections in traditional medicine.   Key words: Plant extracts, antibacterial, antifungal, infections.