Phytochemical Screening and Antimicrobial Effects of Aqueous and Ethanol Leaf and Stem Extracts of Gongronema latifolium Benth.

摘要

Aqueous and ethanolic leaf and stem extracts of Gongronema latifolium were investigated for the presence and composition oftnese phytochemicals (alkaloid, flavonoid, phenol, saponin, sterol, terpenoid and cyanogenic glycoside) and their antimicrobialactivities at various concentrations against some selected clinical microbes (fungal strains: C. albicans and Aspergillus niger and bacterial strains: Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhi) using standard methods. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was employed in data analysis. Qualitative and percent quantitative phytochemical results showed that both the aqueous and ethanolic leaf and stem extracts contained these phytochemicals assayed but in varied quantities except cyanogenic glycoside. Antimicrobial studies indicated that both the aqueous and ethanolic leaf and stem extracts of Gongronema latifolium inhibited the growth of the microbes but at varied levels and the inhibition was extracts concentration dependent. The ethanolic extract showed significantly higher inhibition than the aqueous extract in all concentrations except at 150 mg mL_1 where the reverse was the case. The extracts showed higher inhibition against the fungal strains than the bacterial strains. Inhibitory effect of the leaf extract was significantly higher than those of the stem extract. Antibiotics had a better activity when compared to the extracts at the same concentration. Gongronema latifolium extracts were biostatic in their action, when purified will give a product with higher activity. The data obtained from the study indicated that the plant possessed antimicrobial properties especially antifungal and could be used in the treatment of bacterial and fungal infections but more especially the latter.