International Journal of Drug Research and Technology

ANTIMICROBIAL PROPERTIES OF THE METHANOLIC EXTRACT OF THE LEAVES OF NAUCLEA LATIFOLIA

Abstract

Chinedu Fredrick Anowi1*, Nnabuife Chinedu Cardinal2, C.J. Mbah3andT.C. Onyekaba4

Nauclea

latifolia

had been reported to have antimicrobial properties

. The people of Ogidi in Idemili North

Local Government Area

of Anambra State, Nigeria, used it to treat wound infections

. This study is

therefore

aimed at determining this claim

to

antimicrobial effect of this pl

ant using the leaves of

Nauclea

latifolia

w

hich will also serve

as criteria

to recommend the Ethnopharmacological uses of the plant

.

The

plant leaves were dried, powdered and extracted by c

old maceration with

methanol

for 24

hour

s.

This was

concentrated using rotary evaporator.

Phytochemical evalua

tion revealed the presence of alkaloids, tannins,

sterols, glycosides and saponin in

varying degrees

. The antimicrobial activities (sensiti

vity test) of the

crude extract

and the standards (

A

ugmentin; an antibacterial agent and ketoconazole; an antifungal

agent)

were evaluated against Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria and fungi us

ing

agar diffusion method

at

the

concentration

of 1

00

mg/ml for extract

and 50

μg/ml for standards. The same method was used to

evaluate the minimum inhibitory concentrati

on

but at different concentrations

.

R

esults sho

w that

methanolic ex

tract of the leaves exhibited

activity against

E.coli, S.

dysenteriae

, S.

aureus

, B. subtilis and

A. niger,

with minimum inhibitory conce

ntration (MIC) ranging from 3.35

mg/ml

-

10.42

mg/ml

. O

n

P

seudomonas aeruginosa,

the methanolic extract of leaves

also show

significant

effective

ne

s

s

when

compared to

the standard. The percent susceptibility test indicated that the effect of methanolic extract of

leaves on

S.

dysenteriae

is very high (98.4%).

From the results obtained, it could therefore be conclud

ed

that the leaves

of

Nauclea latifolia

possess broad

spectrum antimicrobial activities.

Nauclea latifolia

may

be useful in the formulation of antimicrobial agent that could be used for the treatment

of microbial

infections of different origins.