A study on antimicrobial effect of extracts of Cassia arereh (Del.) on some clinical isolates

Results of preliminary phytochemical analysis showed that the stem and root barks of Cassia arereh (Del.) possess phenols, tannins, cardiac glycosides, phlobatanin and anthraquinone. The acetone extract of the root bark produced the highest antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli (16 mm), Klebsiella pneumoniae (11 mm) and Staphylococcus aureus (9 mm) compared to the other extracts. All the extracts did not possess significant antimicrobial activity against Salmonella typhi, Streptococcus pyogenes and Candida albicans at 100 mg/ml concentration. The aqueous extracts of the root and stem barks did not produce any measurable antimicrobial activity against all the tested organisms. Warming to 60 degrees C increased the activity of the root bark extract especially the acetone extract (11 - 36%) against E. coli, K. pneumoniae and S. aureus while in the case of the stem bark, the activity increased at 11% for these organisms. The MIC values for the acetone extract of the root bark were in the range of 25 - 50 mg/ml whereas the MBC values were 100 mg/ml against the susceptible organisms. So the use of C. arereh for the treatment of boils, wound infections, urinary tract infections, respiratory tract infections, diarrhoea and scarlet fever may be justified.