Phytochemical and antibacterial evaluation of ethanolic extract of Salvadora persica root extract against selected microorganisms

Abstract

The aim of this paper was to anlyse phytochemical constituents and antibacterial activity of ethanolic extract of Salvadora persica roots against selected microorganisms. Organism tested were Proteus vulgaris, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, Bacillus cereus and Enterobacter aerogenes. From the study Salvadora persica roots was found to contain secondary metabolites such as alkaloids, flavanoids, glycosides, saponins and terpenes. The plant extract inhibited the growth of Enterobacter aerogenes with a zone of inhibition of 32.833 ± 0.167, Escherichia coli (32.166 ± 0.167), Bacillus cereus (31.533 ± 0.033), Proteus vulgaris (31.166 ± 0.167) and Salmonella typhi (27.500 ± 0.289). The bioactivity of the plant extract observed in this study can be attributed to the presence of the mentioned phytochemicals. Results from the bioassay of Salvadora persica roots extract showed the highest zone of inhibition was obtained against Enterobacter aerogenes at 500 mg/ml. The paper concludes that Salvadora persica roots contain phyto medicine which is effective in treating most of the infectious diseases.