Hindawi Publishing Corporation Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine Volume 2013, Article ID 632927, 10 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/632927 Research Article Evaluation of Antimicrobial and Wound Healing Potential of Justicia flava and Lannea welwitschii Christian Agyare, 1,2 Solomon Boamah Bempah, 1 Yaw Duah Boakye, 1 Patrick George Ayande, 3 Martin Adarkwa-Yiadom, 4 and Kwesi Boadu Mensah 5 1 Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana 2 Center for Discovery and Innovation in Parasitic Diseases, Department of Pathology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158-2330, USA 3 Department of Human Biology and Nursing, School of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana 4 Drugs and Forensic Laboratory, Ghana Standards Authority, Accra, Ghana 5 Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana Correspondence should be addressed to Christian Agyare; cagyare.pharm@knust.edu.gh Received 24 June 2013; Revised 10 August 2013; Accepted 19 August 2013 Academic Editor: Mani Vasudevan Copyright © 2013 Christian Agyare et al. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Microbial infections of various types of wounds are a challenge to the treatment of wounds and wound healing. Te aim of the study is to determine the antimicrobial, antioxidant, and in vivo wound healing properties of methanol leaf extracts of Justicia fava and Lannea welwitschii. Te antimicrobial activity was investigated using agar well difusion and microdilution methods. Te free radical scavenging activity of the methanol leaf extracts was performed using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH). Te rate of wound contraction was determined using excision model. Te test organisms used were Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 4853, Bacillus subtilis NTCC 10073, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, and clinical strains of Candida albicans. Te MICs of methanol leaf extract of J. fava against test organisms were E. coli (7.5 mg/mL); P. aeruginosa (7.5 mg/mL); S. aureus (5 mg/mL); B. subtilis (7.5mg/mL); and C. albicans (5 mg/mL). Te MICs of methanol leaf extract of L. welwitschii against test organisms were E. coli (5 mg/mL); P. aeruginosa (10 mg/mL); S. aureus (5 mg/mL); B. subtilis (2.5 mg/mL); and C. albicans (2.5 mg/mL). Te MBC/MFC of the extract was between 10 and 50 mg/mL. Te IC 50 of the reference antioxidant, -tocopherol, was 1.5 g/mL and the methanol leaf extracts of J. fava and L. welwitschii had IC 50 of 65.3 g/mL and 81.8 g/mL, respectively. Te methanol leaf extracts of J. fava and L. welwitschii gave a signifcant reduction in wound size as compared to the untreated. Te rates of wound closure afer the application of the extracts (7.5% w/w) were compared to the untreated wounds. On the 9th day, J. fava extract had a percentage wound closure of 99% ( < 0.01) and that of L. welwitschii exhibited wound closure of 95% ( < 0.05) on the 13th day compared to the untreated wounds. Te two extracts signifcantly ( < 0.01) increased the tensile strength of wounds compared to the untreated wounds. Te extracts treated wound tissues showed improved angiogenesis, collagenation, and reepithelialization compared to the untreated wound tissues. Te preliminary phytochemical screening of J. fava and L. welwitschii leaf extracts revealed the presence of tannins, alkaloids, favonoids, and glycosides. Te above results indicate that methanol leaf extracts of J. fava and L. welwitschii possess antimicrobial and wound healing properties which may justify the traditional uses of J. fava and L. welwitschii in the treatment of wounds and infections. 1. Introduction Traditional medicinal practices are important part of the primary healthcare delivery system in most of the developing countries. According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 3.5 billion people from developing countries in Africa and Asia depend on plants as part of their primary healthcare. Many African people depend on traditional