SCREENING OF Prosopis africana FOR ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY AGAINST SELECTED ORAL PATHOGENS
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Date
2017
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Nigeria Journal of Pure and Applied Sciences
Abstract
Prosopis africana, a chewing stick popularly used in the South Western part of Nigeria was examined for
antimicrobial activity against Lactobacillus casei ATCC 334, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 35218,
Candida albicans ATCC 10231, Escherichia coli ST2747 and Streptococcus mutans using agar well
diffusion method. Extraction was done using ethanol and distilled water. The plant was screened for its
phytochemical components. Gas chromatography mass spectrometry analysis was done to detect the
secondary metabolites. All the extracts showed antimicrobial activity against the organisms with zones of
inhibition ranging from 3.33±0.29 - 13.83±1.61mm except Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 35218 which
was resistant to aqueous extract of the dried sample. Statistical analysis of data showed that there was no
significant difference in the antimicrobial effects of ethanolic and aqueous extracts of the plant samples at
95% confidence intervals. The phytochemical screening result showed that phenols, alkaloids, sterols,
triterpenes and saponins are components of the chewing stick. Also, fatty acids such oleic, palmitic and
stearic acids were chemical constituents detected in the plant extracts by GC-MS. The results obtained in
this study indicate that P. africana will be useful in the treatment of oral infections.
Description
Keywords
Secondary metabolites, GC-MS, Oral pathogens, Prosopsis africana, Chewing stick
Citation
Zakariyah et al., 2017