Volume 4 • Issue 3 • 1000281 J Infect Dis Ther ISSN: 2332-0877 JIDT, an open access journal ISSN: 2332-0877 J o u r n a l o f I n f e c ti o u s D i s e a s e s & T h e r a p y Agbankpe et al., J Infect Dis Ther 2016, 4:3 http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2332-0877.1000281 Research Article Open Access Journal of Infectious Diseases & Therapy In Vitro Antibacterial Effects of Crateva adansonii, Vernonia amygdalina and Sesamum radiatum Used for the Treatment of Infectious Diarrhoeas in Benin Agbankpe AJ 1 , Dougnon TV 1 *, Bankole SH 1 , Houngbegnon O 1 , Dah-nouvlessounon D 2 and Baba-moussa 2 1 Laboratoire de Recherche en Biologie Appliquée (LARBA), Ecole Polytechnique d’Abomey-Calavi (EPAC), Université d’Abomey-Calavi (UAC), 01 BP 2009 Cotonou, Bénin 2 Laboratoire de Biologie et de Typage Moléculaire en Microbiologie, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques/Université d’Abomey-Calavi, 05 BP 1604 Cotonou, Bénin Abstract Diarrheal and infectious diseases are the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. With the emergence of multidrug resistant bacteria, the treatment of these diseases is problematic. This situation stresses the need to search for alternative antibacterial sources notably medicinal plants. The present study aimed to assess the antibacterial activity of three leafy vegetables commonly used to treat diarrheal diseases. Therefore, aqueous and hydro-ethanolic extracts of the leaves of Crateva adansonii, Vernonia amygdalina and Sesamum radiatum were prepared and tested against 12 clinical isolates and 4 reference strains. The antibacterial activities were measured using a microdilution method to determine the Minimal Inhibitory Concentration, Minimal Bactericidal Concentration and the antibiotic power. Susceptibility tests of the extracts were carried out using well diffusion method. The hydro-ethanolic extracts of the leaves of S. radiatum and C. adansonii and the aqueous extract of S. radiatum had an effective antibacterial effect on the clinical and reference strains isolates. This was supported by Minimal Inhibitory Concentration values ranging between 0.3125 and 5 mg/ml, Minimal Bactericidal Concentration between 0.3125 and 10 mg/ml, a bactericidal power on S. aureus ATCC 25923, Pseudomonas mirabilis A 24974 (reference strains); Staphylococcus aureus, Vibrio cholera and Salmonella Typhi (clinical isolates). For the active extracts, the inhibition zone diameters were signiicantly different (p<0.05) and greater than 9 mm. Extracts of the leaves of S. radiatum showed the best antibacterial effects on the clinical and reference strains isolates, although reference strains and most of the clinical isolates still more sensitive to antibiotics. *Corresponding author: Dougnon T Victorien, Laboratoire de Recherche en Biologie Appliquée (LARBA), Ecole Polytechnique d’Abomey-Calavi (EPAC), Université d’Abomey-Calavi (UAC), 01 BP 2009 Cotonou, Bénin, Tel: 00 22997736446; E-mail: victorien88@hotmail.com Received May 26, 2016; Accepted May 30, 2016; Published June 02, 2016 Citation: Agbankpe A, Dougnon TV, Bankole SH, Houngbegnon O, Dah- nouvlessounon D, et al. (2016) In Vitro Antibacterial Effects of Crateva adansonii, Vernonia amygdalina and Sesamum radiatum Used for the Treatment of Infectious Diarrhoeas in Benin. J Infect Dis Ther 4: 281. doi:10.4172/2332-0877.1000281 Copyright: © 2016 Agbankpe A, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Keywords: Antibacterial activity; Well difusion; S. radiatum; C. adansonii; V. amygdalina Introduction In developing countries, infectious diarrhoeas represent a serious public health challenge because of their frequency and gravity. hey are responsible for over 17 million deaths every year across the world with more than half of this burden occurring in Africa [1]. his problem afects all age groups but particularly the most sensitive ones such as infants and the elderly, as well as immunedepressed people. Up to date, vaccinations and antibiotherapy are still the common means used to combat diarrheal infections. hese remedies have contributed to the reduction of the impact of these infections especially in developed countries [2]. However, resource limited populations still rely on medicinal plants whenever these infections occur. Moreover, the use of medicinal plants has become the main alternative therapeutic solution against infectious diarrhoeas because of the steadily high cost of antibiotics together with the emergence of multidrug resistant microorganisms and the lack of vaccines for many enteric pathogens [3,4]. Plant resources occupy an important place in the life of rural populations of developing countries [5]. Furthermore, the African continent harbours a wide diversity of medicinal plants [6]. According to the World Health Organization, more than 80% of African populations depend on traditional medicine and pharmacopeia to solve their health problems [7]. Out of the more or less 300000 medicinal plants species identiied on the planet, more than 200000 are found in tropical Africa [8,9]. Some of these medicinal plants, mainly the leafy vegetables are used by populations as food and are very beneicial for health maintenance and for the prevention of many diseases [10,11]. An ethnobotanical survey conducted by Agbankpé et al. in southern Benin revealed 27 species of leafy vegetables commonly used in traditional medicine against infectious diarrhoeas [12]. Rural populations and traditional healers basically use them to combat diarrheal bacterial infections and against several other diseases. Some of these vegetables such as Vernonia amygdalina, Crateva adansonii and Sesamum radiatum possess high nutritional values that can help the rural populations to circumvent malnutrition [13]. Apart from the nutritional potentials of these vegetables, it is necessary to evaluate their antibacterial activity in order to validate their utilisation as phyto-medicines in the treatment of diarrheal diseases by rural populations and traditional healers. he objective of the present study was to assess the antibacterial properties of the aqueous and hydro-ethanolic extracts of these three vegetables on bacteria species that are responsible for diarrheal infections. Materials and Methods Materials Common consumables and materials of Bacteriology laboratory were used during the manipulations. he study also involved powders of the leaves of Crateva adansonii, Vernonia amygdalina and Sesamum radiatum. he used bacteria strains were obtained from the Bacteriology section of the National Laboratory of the Ministry of Health (LNMSP).