International Journal of Drug Research and Technology

ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF METHYLENE CHLORIDE/METHANOLIC EXTRACT (50:50) OF THE LEAVES OF RITCHIEA LONGIPEDICELLATAFAMILY CAPPARIDACEAE

Abstract

A.F. Onyegbule1*, C.F. Anowi2, G.Oche3and S.U. Uzodinma4

Ritchiea longipedicellata

had been reported to exhibit antim

icrobial properties. This study is

t

o

d

etermine

the antimicrobial activities of Ritchiea longipedicella

ta leaves against microorganisms and to serve as

criteria to recommend the

e

thno pharmacological

uses of the

plant. The

plant leaves were dried, powdered

and extracted by cold maceration with 1:1 mixture of methylene chloride and methanol for 24hours.

Phyt

ochemical screening was done for alkaloids, saponin, essential oil, phenolic group, steroidal nucleus,

simple sugar, starch, cyanogenic glycoside, proteins and flavonoid using standard procedures.

Antimicrobial screenings were done using agar diffusion tec

hnique. Antibacterial activity test was

conducted by screening against seven pathogens comprising both Gram positive and Gram negative

bacteria obtained from pharmaceutical Microbiology laboratory stock. The extracts were screened against

24hour broth cult

ure of bacteria seeded in the nutrient agar at concentrations 200, 100, 50, 25, 12.5 and

6.25 mg/ml in DMSO and incubated at 37ċ, for 24 hours and measuring the inhibition zone diameter

-

IZD. The same was done for

antifungal;

however, fungi were seeded in

to a sabouraud dextrose agar and

incubated for 72 hours at

25ċ.

Aspergillus

niger

and

Candida albican

were used. The positive

controls

were

ampicillin 20μg/ml and clotrimazole cream 1mg/ml for bacteria and fungi respectively.

DMSO was

used as negative

con

trol.

The

results of phytochemical screening showed moderate availability of

alkaloid, simple sugar and abundance of flavonoid, steroidal nucleus, essential oil, phenolic group,

cyanogenic glycoside; absence of starch and protein and doubtful quantity of s

aponin. The extracts

displayed various activities against bacteria inhibiting it at various concentrations ranging from 200 to

6.25 mg/ml. The Crude extract (200 mg/ml) had IZD of 5.0, 12.0, 4.0, 4.0, 7.0, and 5.0 mm against

Staphylococcus

aureus, Pseudomo

nas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis,

Sarcina

lutea, and

Salmonella typhi

respectively. The Crude inhibited most appreciably

Pseudomonas aeruginosa

at all the

concentration with IZD ≥6mm, however no activity against

Klebsiella

was

recorded.

The

extract

demonstrated activities against certain bacteria and fungi confirming the use of the plant in

ethno

pharmacology

. Taking the least IZD of the standard (Ampicillin) as the breaking point, the extracts

passed the breaking point.