Antibacterial Activity of the Root Extracts of Spear Grass (Imperata cylindrica) in Makurdi Metropolis

The phytochemicals present in Imperata cylindrica were investigated as well as their antibacterial activity on Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli using agar well diffusion method. Both ethanolic and aqueous extractions were carried out. The ethanolic extracts of Imperata cylindrica exhibited the highest zones of inhibition against all the bacterial isolates with 18.3 ± 1.53 at 200 Mg/mL against Staphylococcus aureus and 16.0 ± 1.00 at 200 mg/mL against E. coli. All the extracts followed the trend of “the higher the concentration the greater the zones of inhibition”. The minimum inhibitory concentration was observed to be 25% on both E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus in the ethanolic extract and 50% against E. coli and 25% for Staphylococcus aureus in the aqueous extract. The result from this study revealed that Imperata cylindrica roots contain some bioactive compounds which may be used as antibacterial agents.