Abstract
The phytochemical composition and antimicrobial potential of extracts of fruit pulp of Landolphia owariensis was investigated. L. owariensis mesocarp flour was obtained by oven drying at 500C and pulverized while microwave assisted extraction was used to obtain hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and methanol extracts, which were concentrated in vacuo using microwave and thereafter air dried at ambient temperature. Antimicrobial sensitivity tests on fourteen (14) human pathogenic microorganisms were performed using diffusion method while minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bacterial/fungal concentration (MBC/MFC) tests were performed using dilution method. The oven dried L. owariensis fruit pulp flour contained 12.45±0.03 mg/100 g tannins and 6.39±2.78 mg/100 g total flavonoids but low levels of anthraquinones, alkaloids, cyanogenic glycosides, saponins, steroids and terpenes. The phytosterols consisted of cholesterol, cholestanol, campesterol, stigmasterol, beta sitosterol and tocopherol with stigmasterol being the most abundant (1.06±0.21 mg/100 g). The flavonoids constituents included orientin, isovitexin and keampferol. Microbiological analysis of hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and methanol extracts of L. owariensis fruit pulp showed antimicrobial activities against S. aureus, S. pyogenes, S. typhi, S. dysenteriae, K.pneumoniea, C. albicans, C. krusei, C. stellatoidea and M. rubrum. Chloroform extract exhibited the highest zones of inhibition, followed by hexane and ethyl acetate extracts while methanol extract had least diameter of zones of inhibition. Also ethyl acetate extract was more potent (2.5-5 mg/mL), followed by chloroform and methanol extracts while hexane extract had the least potency (5-10 mg/mL) level. Similarly, ethyl acetate extract was most effective (5-10 mg/mL) in inhibiting bacterial/fungal growth. L. owariensis fruit pulp flour and extracts contained important secondary metabolites that may account for its antimicrobial activities.Keywords: Landolphia owariensis, phytochemicals, anti-microbial activities, flavonoids, phytosterols
Highlights
In many tropical countries in Africa, rural people traditionally harvest wide range of fruits from the wild because of its taste, cultural uses and as food supplements
The high level of flavonoids in fruit pulp of L. owariensis is suggestive of its anti-oxidative properties (Okonkwo & Osadebe, 2013; Owoyele et al, 2001; Middleton et al, 2000)
Flavonoids have been implicated in numerous studies to have, among a host of other medicinal properties, diuretic, laxative, anti-spasmodic, anti-hypertensive, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and anti-radical properties (Abdelrazig, 2013; Tor-Anyiin and Anyam, 2013; Guarize et al, 2012; Nogueira and Lopes 2011; Macdonald et al, 2010; Kubmarawa and Ajoku, 2007)
Summary
In many tropical countries in Africa, rural people traditionally harvest wide range of fruits from the wild because of its taste, cultural uses and as food supplements. Scrutiny of plants of various tropical forest areas through constituent analysis may lead to selection of valuable wild species that can be taken through crop improvement and hybridization process to establish it as cultivated variety. Report has it that less than 10 plant species are meeting over 90% of the world food demand (Wilkes, 1981), there is huge diversity of wild plant species whose food and health potentials are underexploited and underutilized. The rural poor in developing nations use wild edible plant species to complement their food and economic resource base. Conscious effort at conserving the economically important wild edible plant species before they really become extinct is required
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