Abstract
The antibacterial activities and preliminary phytochemical screening of ethanolic and aqeous extract of Vernonia amygdalina was performed against clinical isolates obtained from University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) which included Escherichia coil, Staphylococcus aureus andPseudomonas aeruginosa. Generally, the ethanol extracts showed more activities than aqueous extracts in both samples. The extracts exhibited antibacterial activity against the test organisms (0.5 to 15.50 mm). The phytochemical screening of Vernonia amydalina showed the presence of tannins, cardiac glycosides, saponins and alkaloids. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) ranged between 25 and 200 mg/ml. V. amydalina exhibited a minimum bacteriocidal concentration (MBC) of 50 mg/ml for P. aeruginosa and 125 mg/ml for S. aureuswhile E. coil was bacteriostastic. The crude extracts exhibited strong potency against the clinical bacteria with P. aeruginosa being the most susceptible. The antibacterial efficacy of the crude extracts is therefore discussed. Key words: Antimicrobial activity, minimum inhibitory concentration, phytochemical, Vernonia amygdalina
Highlights
Botany and medicine have been closely linked throughout history
The determination of the antimicrobial activity of hot and cold ethanolic extract of V. amygdalina showed that the extracts possess antibacterial activity against S. aureus, P. aeruginosa and E. coli
The MIC values obtained on the test organisms varied from one plant to another .The hot ethanolic extract of V. amydalina has the lowest minimum inhibitory concentration on P. aeruginosa at 25 mg/ml while cold aqueous extract of V. amydalina had the highest value of MIC on P. aeruginosa at 55 mg/ml
Summary
Botany and medicine have been closely linked throughout history. Prior to this century, medical practitioners whether allopath (medical doctors), homeopaths, naturopaths, herbalist or shamans had to know the plants in the area and how to use them since many of their drugs were derived from plants (Akujobi et al, 2004). Vernonia amygdalina is a tropical plant belonging to the family Compositae and is used widely as vegetable and medicinal plant It has the common name bitter leaf (Ibrahim et al, 2000). It grows under a range of ecological zones in Africa and produces a lager mass of forage and it is drought tolerant, with about 200 species of Vernonia It is majorly used for human consumption and has to be washed to remove the bitter taste. Its bitter taste is due to antinutritional factors such as alkaloids, saponins, tannins and glycosides It stimulates the digestive system as well as reduces fever. It is differentiated from its counterpart V. colorata, which grows wildly by hairy leaves of the latter (Iwu, 1993). The stem and root divested of the bark are used as chewsticks in many West African countries like Cameroon, Ghana and Nigeria (Burkill, 1985; Hamowia, 1994)
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