Antibacterial Investigation using Spectrophotometric Assay of the Polar Leaf Extracts of Ficus capensis (Moraceae)

This study was designed to explore new antibacterial agent(s) from the defatted methanol and water extracts of Ficus capensis. The extracts were obtained using various solvents, namely, cyclohexane, dichloromethane, methanol, and water by serial exhaustive extraction, after which both extracts were challenged with pure clinical isolates of Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Acinetobacter baumannii, and Burkolderia cepacia viz-a-viz standard antibiotics of chloramphenicol, gentamicin, and amoxicillin at 25 μg/ml, 50 μg/ml, and 100 μg/ml concentrations using spectrophotometric method. Using the zone of inhibition as an inhibitory parameter, both extracts of F. capensis showed promising antimicrobial activity in a concentration-dependent manner comparable to the standard antibiotics for all tested microorganisms. This research holds promise for the exploration of various potentially active secondary metabolites which would help in developing pharmaceuticals, especially antibacterial drugs, for combating common microbial infections. This validates the use of the plant leaves in the treatment of broad-spectrum microbial infections in ethnomedicine.