Antidiarrheal activity of Tetradenia riparia and Wubergia ugandensis ethnobotanical plants in Kenya

Abstract

Diarrhea continues to be a major problem especially in developing countries, affecting majorly young children under the age of 5 years. Plants have been used since time immemorial in the treatment against diarrhea. Due to increased drug resistant microorganisms the search for new antibiotics remains to be inevitable. The study was done to analyze the antibacterial potential of the selected two plants against diarrhea causing microorganisms. The plant samples were collected, identified, voucher specimen prepared and allowed to dry under room temperature. The dried samples were powdered and extracted using hydromethanolic solvent system. The bioassay was done using well diffusion method. From the results Tetradenia riparia had the highest zones of inhibition as compared to Wubergia ugandensis (Table 1). Tetradenia riparia extract highly inhibited the growth of Escherichia coli with an inhibition zone of 13.33 ±0.333 and Salmonella typhi an inhibition zone of 12.00 ±0.000 (fig. 1). Wubergia ugandensis inhibited Escherichia coli the most with an inhibition zone of 11.00 ±0.577 and Salmonella typhi an inhibition zone of 10.00 ±0.000. The two plants showed great potential in the fight against diarrhea causing microorganisms.