European Journal of Medicinal Plants

Abstract

The Crassula ovata plant has been used for many years as an ornamental plant, and also as a medicinal plant in some communities like the Khoi of South Africa and in Chinese culture. Locally the plant is being used by homeowners who have it in their vicinity as a remedy for diarrhea and disinfecting wounds. However, the major problem of using this plant is its ineffectiveness to heal wounds and diarrhea in most cases where it is being used.  It brings about questions like does the Crassula ovata plants inhibit certain specific microorganisms, or is the concentration of the extract to blame, or the method used to extract the plant. The mode of extraction used in this study involved both aqueous extraction and methanolic extraction, to ensure all plant constituents are extracted for better results. The microorganisms that were tested against the plant extracts are the major day to day sources of diarrhea and wound infection. The plant extracts are used at varying concentrations. The observable results were quantitatively analyzed to see which plant extract and at which concentration causes the most inhibition on the microorganisms. The plant extract with the most inhibition was found to be the water extraction at the concentration of , and it would be recommended that the Crassula ovata plant be used to the specifications as observed in the study.