Determination Of Antibacterial Activity And Phytochemistry Of Three Herbal Plants On Clinical Isolates

Abstract The antibacterial activity of three plants extract Abrus precatorius Croton penduliflorus Seeds and Nauclea latifolia Root were evaluated in an in vitro test on Escherichia coli Klebsiella pneumonia and Enterococcus faecalis. Twelve extracts consisting of hot ethanol cold ethanol hot water and cold water were prepared. They were tested using the agar diffusion method. Efficacy was assessed by measuring the diameter of zone of inhibition around the colonies on Muller Hilton agar medium. E.coli showed the highest susceptibility to all plant extracts this was followed by E. faecalis. K. pneumonia showed the least susceptibility to all the extracts. Across board the cold ethanol extracts of the plants showed the highest susceptibility while the other extracts exhibited variable antibacterial activities. The minimum inhibitory concentration MIC of the eight most active extracts ranged between 3.025mgml to 50mgml while minimum bactericidal concentration MBC was between 6.25mgml - 25mgml. Commonly used antibiotics such as Augmentin and Amoxillin showed low sensitivity as compared to the extracts with varying inhibition zone of 0-4mm Phytochemical screening of these extracts showed that flavonoid was detected in only A. precatorius Glycoside was found in all extract except in C. penduliflorus extracts. Alkaloid saponin and Tannin were found in all the plant extracts. This invitro study demonstrated that folk medicine in addition to being cheaper could be effective as modern medicine in combating pathogenic microorganisms.