INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF METHANOL LEAF EXTRACT OF CALLISTEMON RIGIDUS

Traditional medicine is widely used in under developed countries and in developing and developed countries as alternative or complementary medicine. A lot of the herbs used have proven pharmacological activity. The battle against microbes is one that man cannot afford to lose, hence the continual search for newer antibiotics. Callistemon rigidus has been discovered to have a very good antimicrobial activity. The activity of methanol leaf extract of Callistemon rigidus against representative Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria and Fungus was determined. Gram-negative organism; E. coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were more sensitive to the leaf extract. Candida albicans was least sensitive. This study supports the use of Callistemon rigidus traditionally and verifies that the methanol leaf extract has antimicrobial, including antistaphylococcal activity