PHYTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF METHANOL EXTRACT OF THE LEAVES OF Hippocratea Welwitschii OLIV. (CELASTRACEAE)
ONYEKERE PECULIAR FEENNA*1 , ENEBECHI CHARLES KENECHUKWU1 , NNAMANI DANIEL OKWUDILI1 , PECULIAR-ONYEKERE CHIOMA OBIANUJU2 AND OKONTA ELEJE OBOMA1
1. Department of Pharmacognosy & Environmental Medicine, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. 410001. Enugu State, Nigeria.
2. Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology & Biotechnology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. 410001. Enugu State, Nigeria
Afr. J Pharm Res Dev; Volume 11(2): 106-115 ; 2019
ABSTRACT
The objectives of this study were to investigate the phytochemical constituents, determine the spectrum of activity and evaluate the Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations (MIC) against susceptible microorganisms of the leaf extract of Hippocratea welwitschii Oliv. The methanol extract of leaves was obtained by maceration using absolute methanol and concentrated with a rotary evaporator. The phytochemical analysis was carried out using standard procedures. The sensitivity of the methanol extract of Hippocrateae welwitschii to selected micro-organisms was determined using the agar well diffusion method. The inhibition zones diameters (IZDs) were measured and recorded. The arithmetic square of the IZDs values in millimeter (mm) were plotted against the logarithmic doses to get the MIC. The phytochemical screening showed that it contained alkaloids, flavonoids, glycosides, saponins, tannins, and terpenoids. Antimicrobial tests carried out showed that the crude methanol extract was active against a broad spectrum of microorganisms including gram-positive – Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus subtilis and gram-negative – Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhi, but not Klebsiella pneumonia. It also showed antifungal activities against Candida albicans and Aspergillus niger. The MIC obtained were 14.68, 50.13, 9.92, 10.61, 16.68, 26.73 and 10.8 mg/ml for Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus subtilis, Eshcherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, Candida albicans and Aspergillus niger respectively. The zones of inhibition were significantly different (p< 0.05) at 100 mg/ml of the plant extracts when compared to the standard positive controls to the selected tested organisms. The antimicrobial and phytochemical characteristics of the plant support the folkloric use of the plant in the management of infectious diseases.
Email of correspondence:peculiar.onyekere@unn.edu.ng
KEYWORDS: Phytochemical screening; Antimicrobial; Extraction; Microorganisms.