Abstract

Different amounts of the aqueous and methanolic extracts of Lepidium sativum seeds and Flemingia grahamiana glandular hairs of the pods as well as of their combination (multiherbal combination), that is used traditionally in Aden for topical treatment of furuncles, were tested for their antibacterial activity, by using a modified agar diffusion assay against Staphylococcus aureus(ATCC 29737),which is the most common bacteria causing furuncles. The aqueous extracts of Lepidium sativum seeds were found to possess antibacterial activity, while those of Flemingia grahamiana and multiherbal combination were found inactive. The ineffectiveness of the aqueous multiherbal combination may be due to a possible antagonistic interaction between its two components. The methanolic extracts only of Flemingia grahamiana and the multiherbal combination demonstrated moderately antibacterial activity. This result indicated that methanol is better than water in extracting the antibacterial active principles from Flemingia grahamiana that are responsible for the moderate antibacterial activity of the multiherbal combination against S. aureus.