Studies on the Bioactive Components and Antibacterial Activities of Kigelia Africana

Abstract

Objective: Nature has been a source of medicinal agents for thousands of years and an impressive number of modern drugs have been isolated from natural sources. K. africana is a plant which various part have been used as antibacterial agents, antiprotozoal agents, antineoplastic agents, CNS stimulants e.t.c. Method: Fresh leaves and stem bark of K. africana were collected from Egugwu Agbaja Izzi LGA, Ebonyi State. The plant was washed, soaked, filtered and air-dried to get the aqueous extract. Semi quantitative phytochemical identification, Gas chromatography/Mass spectrometry as well as antibacterial assays of the extracts against C. freundii, E. coli, K. pneumonia and S. aureus by agar well diffusion method were carried out. The aqueous extracts were re-extracted to obtain an ethanolic fraction. Result: The aqueous extract of the leaf had more inhibitory effects than that of the stem bark on the test organisms. The aqueous extract had more inhibitory effects against S. aureus, K. pneumonia and C. freundii as compared to E. coli. The ethanolic fraction had a very significant (P˂0.05) inhibitory effect against all the test organism. Phytochemical analysis of the crude extracts showed the presence of glycosides, tannins, carbohydrate resin and reducing sugar in all extract while saponin and flavonoid was noted only in the aqueous extract of K. africana stem bark. The GC/MS revealed the presence of acetic acid, hydroxy-ethyl ester e.t.c in the leaf aqueous extract whereas phenol, 3-methoxy-2,4,6-trimethyl was revealed in the stem bark. Conclusion: This study revealed that aqueous extract of K. africana contains high amount of phyoconstituents and it may be responsible for its good antibacterial activity.