Proximate composition, phytochemical and antimicrobial activity of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of <i>Hunteria umbellata</i> on some clinical isolates

Abstract

A medicinal plant is any plant which has therapeutic used and are used for drug production. The use of medicinal plants for traditional uses is well known in rural areas and many developing countries. This study was undertaken to evaluate the antibiotic and therapeutic importance of the extracts of Hunteria umbellata against selected clinical isolates known to cause diseases to man. Agar well diffusion method was used to determine the antibacterial activity of Hunteria umbellata. The proximate composition showed that carbohydrate with 71.55±0.10 % had the highest value. The elemental composition analyzed showed that Fe had the highest amount. The phytochemical screening of both aqueous and ethanolic extracts showed the presence of oxalate, phytate, tannins, flavonoids, saponins, alkaloids, phenols, cyanogenic glycoside and anthraquinones. The clinical isolates E. coli, S. pneumonia, S. pyogenes, S. aureus, Staphylococcus sp., P. aeruginosa, Micrococcus sp., Klebsiella sp., Proteus sp., Bacillus sp., S. epidermidis, Candida albicans, S. cerevisiae. The zone of inhibition of aqueous and ethanolic extracts in comparison with the conventional antibiotics showed that the extracts had better antibacterial properties. The results obtained showed the important use of H. umbellata in ethnomedicine.