ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF VERNONIA AMYGLADINA AND VERNONIA COLORART ROOT BARK

The antimicrobial activity of Vernonia amygladina and Vernonia colorata root bark extracts was carried out using Agar well diffusion method on selected food borne pathogens of medical importance. Both ethanol and aqueous extracts of these root bark extracts were tested against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacilliu s cereus, Salmonella typhi and Shigella dysenteriae, with the ethanol extract showing greater activity against these test microbes. The antimicrobial activity of these extracts is concentration dependent as it increases with increased concentration of the extracts. V. colorata extracts showed greater antimicrobial activity than the V. amygladina extracts. The work therefore provides scientific evidence for the local use of these two plant species against cough, pneumonia and diarrhea. The work also shows th at the root bark extracts contain the following classes of organic compounds; alkaloids, glycosides, flavonoids and polphenols. The antimicrobial activity of these roots are therefore attributed to the presence of these phytochemicals.