Chemical Composition and Antibacterial Activity of Crude Extracts from Sudanese Medicinal Plant Adansonia digitata L

Adansonia digitata L (Malvaceae) has been used as a traditional medicine for the treatment of various diseases in many African countries for thousands of years. In this study, the chemical composition and antibacterial activity of methanol crude extracts from leaves, bark and root of Adansonia digitata were investigated. The chemical composition was analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS), while the antibacterial activity was assessed by agar disc diffusion method against six microorganisms namely: Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Enterococcus faecalis, Salmonella typhi, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Escherichia coli. GC-MS results showed formation of 17, 16 and 14 compounds in the leaves, root and bark, respectively. The major constituents in the leaves were found to be squalene (27%) and phytol (13%), in the bark were, palmitic acid (37%) and oleic acid (21%) and in the root were, palmitic acid (30%) and oleic acid (24%). Highest antibacterial activity was observed with leaves extract against P. aeuroginosa (15 mm), E. coli (14 mm) and S. typhi (13 mm), while minimum activity was observed with root extract against E. faecalis (6 mm) and S. aureus (7 mm). Leaves extract of almost dominated bark and root extracts in inhibiting the growth of the pathogenic bacteria under study. Considering these results, Adansonia digitata leaves can be used as a source of novel antibacterial compounds.