Phytochemical and antibacterial susceptibility studies of the stem bark extract of <i>Fadogia erythrophloea</i> (K. Schum. and K. Krause) Hutch. and Dalziel

Abstract

This study is designed to explore the phytochemistry and antimicrobial activity of the stem bark of Fadogia erythrophloea. The powdered stem bark material was subjected to Soxhlet extraction using methanol. The methanol extract was then partitioned using chloroform and ethyl acetate. The fractions were also concentrated using rotary evaporator. Phytochemical screening of the extract and fractions of Fadogia erythrophloea stem bark revealed the presence of cardiac glycosides, flavonoids, tannins, saponins and alkaloids. The antimicrobial analysis revealed that the crude methanol extract, chloroform and ethyl acetate fractions were active against most of the test microorganisms. The mean zones of inhibition against the test microorganisms ranged between 20 – 33 mm. The highest zone of inhibition was obtained with ethyl acetate for Bacillus cereus as 33 mm. The Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) ranges from 2.75 mg/ml to 50 mg/ml, the MIC for both methanol and chloroform extracts were both found to be 12.5 mg/ml whereas ethyl acetate has 6.25 mg/ml. Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) of the ethyl acetate fraction was determined to12.5 mg/ml for most of the microorganisms tested. The broad range of inhibition detected implied that the extract has measurable antibacterial properties. This may be due to the presence of active principles which were detected in the phytochemical screening.

Keywords: Fadogia erythrophloea, Stem bark, phytochemistry, antimicrobial activity, Soxhlet extraction