Antimicrobial Activities of B. pilosa& T. procumbens on skin pathogens

The antimicrobial activities of the plants used by Rattus norvegicus (brown rat) in the construction of its nest were studied. The quadrat sampling results of various brown rats' nests sampled revealed the use of Bidens pilosa L. & Tridax procumbens L. leaves by the brown rat to constructing its nest. Hence, these plants were harvested and extracted with solvents of distinct polarities & the extracts were qualitatively & quantitatively screened for phytochemicals which revealed the presence of tannins, alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins and cardiac glycosides in both plants. The antibacterial activities of the ethanoic, aqueous & chloroform extracts of these plants at different concentrations were evaluated on clinical skin pathogens and their corresponding type cultures using agar well diffusion method. Compared to other extracts, the ethanoic extract of T. procumbens at 200 mg/mL exhibited broad spectrum activities on all the test bacteria except B. subtilis. However, B. pilosa extracts had more antibacterial activities on Gram negative organisms compared to Gram positive organisms. Moreover both plants extracts demonstrated good antifungal activities against tested skin pathogens.