Methanolic extract of Caladium bicolor leaves against selected clinical isolates

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.