Antibacterial potency of aqueous and methanolic extracts of <I>Diospyros mesiliformis</I> leaf and stem bark

Abstract

Diospyros mespiliformis“Jackal berry” (also known as African ebony and by its Afrikaan name Jackal bessie). In hausa its called kanya, igi dudu (black wood) in Yoruba and Onye-oji (Black fellow) in igbo. It is widely used  locally in treating various ailments such as fever, whooping cough, wounds, malaria, pheumonia, syphilis, leprosy and host of other ailment without proper scientific validation. This investigation is aimed at validating the scientific use of Diospyros mespiliformis leaf and stem bark using  two solvents, methanol and aqueous. Phytochemical screening of the crude extracts revealed the presence of bioactive compounds such as saponins, tannins, alkaloids flavonoids, steroids, terpenoids and glycoside. The extracts were tested against Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi and Staphylococcus aureus respectively. The antibacterial activity of the stem bark extracts revealed higher activity against E. coli, S.typhi and S. aureus than the leaf extracts. The mean range of zones of inhibition of stem bark at 100mg/ml and 12.5mg/ml varies between 19.29± 3.82 and 5.71± 2.05 while that of leaf extract ranges from 17.71± 2.06 and 5.43±1.13 at 100mg/ml and 12.5 respectively.

Key words: Antibacterial, Phytochemicals, Diospyros mespiliformis, Minimum Inhibitory Concentration.