SCREENING FOR ANTIMICROBIAL, PHYTOCHEMICAL AND ANTIOXIDANT PROFILE OF SOME WILD FRUITS AND SEEDS IN CANAANLAND, OTA, NIGERIA
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The spread of antimicrobial resistance among pathogenic microorganisms has rendered most
conventional drugs redundant. New sources of antimicrobial agents are being harnessed to develop
novel drugs. The antibacterial activity of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of twenty fruits and seeds
were evaluated against some multi-drug resistant clinical isolates Staphylococcus aureus,
Salmonella typhii, Pseudomonas aeruginiosa and Escherichia coli. Standard methods of
antimicrobial and phytochemical assays, DPPH and nitric oxide radical scavenging, total antioxidant
capacity and reducing power assays were employed. Broad spectrum antibacterial activity was
shown by extracts of six out of the twenty plants: Caryota mitis, Cassia javanica, Syzygium
samarangense, Veitchia merrilli, Bauhinia tomentosa and Cassia fistula with inhibition zones
ranging from 20:t0.8 to 25:t0.1 mm. The minimum inhibitory and bactericidal concentrations of the
extracts were between 7.8 to 31.2 mg/ml and 15.6 and 62.5 mg/ml respectively. Phytochemicals
present includes saponins, alkaloids, terpenoids, glycosides and high phenol and flavonoid contents
in the range of 71.19 - 50.20mg/100g and 47.14 - 34.42mg/100g respectively. The extracts had
considerably high antioxidant activity with IC50 values of 41.121-lg/ml in B. tomentosa and
36.57!-lg/ml in C. fistula. C. mitis had a total antioxidant capacity of 34.89 mg/100g. High phenol and
flavonoid contents of the extracts significantly correlated with high antioxidant capacity. The
presence of antimicrobial and antioxidant properties in these wild fruits and seeds opens up a new
perspective in biotherapy as they could be harnessed as alternative drugs for treatment of microbial
infections and management of diseases
Keywords
Q Science (General), QH301 Biology