Methanolic extract of Caladium bicolor leaves against selected clinical isolates

Abstract

To survive when confronted by antibiotics, some strains of microorganisms have evolved and developed the ability to resist the most commonly prescribed forms of medication. As a result, the search for plant derived substances are now becoming one of major areas of research. Plants and their parts are valuable for food, shelter, nutraceutical and major constituent of drugs used in traditional herbal medicinal systems. Caladium bicolor leaf is used in African traditional medicine for the treatment of infections in Nigeria. In this study, the active compounds of Caladium bicolor leaf were extracted using methanol and investigated for the presence of secondary metabolites. Antimicrobial activity of the extract was determined against selected clinical isolates (Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Aspergillus fumigatus and Candida albicans) using the agar well diffusion. The methanol extract demonstrated a significant broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, with the highest activity having a zone of inhibition of 10 mm. The antimicrobial activities could be attributed to the presence of phytochemicals compounds such as tannins, alkaloids, saponins. This is interesting and promising and may therefore be exploited further to understand better the mechanisms responsible for the antimicrobial activity recorded. This study can also serve as scientific bases for support of the traditional use of Caladium bicolor leaf in treatment of infections.

In Vitro Evaluation of Cytotoxic Potential of Caladium lindenii Extracts on Human Hepatocarcinoma HepG2 and Normal HEK293T Cell Lines

“…Many species of Caladium grow in wild areas of Nigeria. Authors reported that the plant parts of Caladium species have been used to manage various disease conditions including various kinds of tumors and infections in traditional medicine system [11].…”

“…Many species of Caladium grow in wild areas of Nigeria. Authors reported that the plant parts of Caladium species have been used to manage various disease conditions including various kinds of tumors and infections in traditional medicine system [ 11 ]. The leaves, tubers, and other parts of C. lindenii were used therapeutically for stingray lesions in the regions of Brazil.…”

Sub-acute toxicity of Caladium bicolor (Aiton) leaf extract in Wistar rats

“…Some of the reported therapeutic applications of C. bicolor include anti-diarrheal, anti-ulcer, topical treatment of wounds and boils [28,29]. The therapeutic properties of C. bicolor can be attributed to the presence of secondary metabolites such as tannins, alkaloids and saponins [30]. However, phytochemical analysis of C. bicolor also showed the presence of toxic calcium oxalate which has been implicated in pathology of internal organs such as the gastrointestinal tract and kidney [31,32].…”