Antimicrobial Activities of Chloroform Extract of Whole Plant of Sida acuta Burm. f against Selected Clinical Isolates from Laboratory Samples of a Private Hospital in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria

Disease-causing microorganisms pose significant health challenges, and the search for alternative therapeutics remains a present quest.  Sida acuta Burm. f. is a common weed plant with reported pharmacological activities. The present study was to investigate the antimicrobial activities of chloroform extract of whole plant of S. acuta against selected clinical isolates from laboratory samples of a private hospital in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria using agar well diffusion and broth dilution techniques. The bacterial isolates were properly identified, using standard morphological and biochemical techniques. Extract of whole plant of S. acuta was prepared by cold maceration in chloroform. The zone of inhibition diameter, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) were determined to ascertain the antimicrobial activities of the plant extract. Morphological and biochemical observations were confirmatory for Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus sp., Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella sp. and Proteus vulgaris. The highest (15.00 ± 0.29 mm) and lowest (5.50 ± 0.29 mm) zones of inhibition were recorded against P. aeruginosa and E. coli at 20 and 80 mg/mL respectively. However, no activity was recorded against C. albicans and A. niger. The extract had MIC of 62.5 mg/mL against S. aureus, Streptococcus sp. and Klebsiella sp. and MBC of 62.5 mg/mL against E. coli and P. vulgaris. The extract demonstrated broad-spectrum antibacterial activities against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative isolates.