ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF MILICIA EXCELSA AND COSTUS SPICATUS ON SOME CLINICAL BACTERIAL ISOLATES

ABSRACT

Two extracts from two plants were screened for antimicrobial activity using agar disc diffusion and micro dilution broth assays. The plants that were screened are Costus spicatus and Milicia excelsa  The methanol extracts of the plants were tested against five culture collection microorganisms consisting of two Gram positive organisms(Staphylococcus aureus ATCC25923 and Enterococcus faecalis ATCC7080), two Gram negative organisms(Escherichia coli ATCC25922 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC29853) and one acid fast bacillus(Mycobacterium smegmatis ATCC14468). The extract of only one of the plants exhibited moderate level of broad spectrum antimicrobial activity against these organisms. The antimicrobial activity was measured by the diameter of zone of inhibition and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). The mean diameter of zone of inhibition  of Costus spicatus at the concentration of 100mg/ml on Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterococcus faecalis, and Escherichia coli were 15mm,18mm,13mm and 15mm respectively which showed the highest level of inhibition without any inhibition on Mycobacterium smegmatis.  The activities of some of the crude extracts were not comparable to the reference antibiotics at standard concentrations used per disc. The potential of these plants for development of cheap, culturally acceptable standardized herbal medicines is discussed.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page i

Certification ii

Dedication iii

Acknowledgements iv

Table of Contents v

List of Tables vi

List of Figures vii

Abstract viii

CHAPTER ONE

1.0 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Aims and objectives 2

CHAPTER TWO

2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW 3

2.1 Antimicrobials from Plants 3

2.2 Groups of Antimicrobial Compounds Found in Plants 4

2.3    Plants That Contain Antimicrobials 8

2.4      Biology and Pathogenicity of Test Organisms 10

CHAPTER THREE

MATERIALS AND METHODS

3.1 Plant Materials 12

3.2 Extraction Procedure 12

3.3 Microorganisms 12

3.4 Preparation of Media 13

3.5 Preparation of Disc     13

3.6 Determination of Minimum Inhibitory Concentration 14

3.7 Agar Disc Diffusion Method 14

3.8 Phytochemical Screening 15

CHAPTER FOUR

3.0 RESULTS 16

CHAPTER FOUR

5.1 DISCUSSION 21

5.2 CONCLUSION 21

5.3     Contributions to Knowledge 22

5.4     Recommendation for Further Studies 22

REFERENCES

APPENDIX

LIST OF TABLES

TABLE          TITLE                                                                                                  PAGE

 1          Mean  Zone of Inhibition of Milicia excelsia 17

 2          Mean  Zone of Inhibition of Costus spicatus  18

 3         The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and the minimum

                   bactericidal concentration (MBC) values of the extract of

Costus spicatus 19

4 Phytochemical Constituents  of Plant Samples 20

LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE               TITLE                                                                              PAGE

 1           Structure of an alkaloid                               5

 2           Structure of a condensed tannin                               5

 3           Structure of Flavonoid 6

4           Structure of terpenoid 6

5     Structure of phenol 7

6                Structure of quinine 8

CHAPTER ONE

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Infectious diseases in form of respiratory tract infections, urinary tract infections, gastrointestinal infections and skin infections that are caused by microorganism are wide spread around the world. Some of these infections can become serious generalized illnesses and life threatening. In Africa, they constitute the secondary cause of mortality in children under five years (WHO, 2009).

Antibiotics are commonly used for severe infectious but unfortunately, bacteria continuously develop resistance to antibiotics and it appears crucial to discover new antimicrobial agents to overcome the overwhelming drug resistance. A potential approach include isolating organic compounds from medicinal plants that can have antimicrobial effect. In Nigeria as in other parts of Africa, traditional system of medicine based mainly on medicines from medicinal plants remains the mainstay of primary healthcare for majority of the rural population (Ekundayo and Ezeogu, 2006).

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 80% of the African population uses medicinal plants for their primary health needs and 40% of prescriptions in China are based on medicinal plants (WHO, 2004), 75% of Germans have used complementary or natural remedies (Tuffs, 2002) and more than 158 million Americans in United States spent 17 billion dollars for complementary and alternative therapy products (Marwick, 2002). This system of medicine is rich in ethno medical knowledge of the use of medicinal plants in treating the category of diseases that affect the people most. This is reflected in the large number of plants reported to be in use in the treatment of infectious conditions in Africa (Ekundayo and Ezeogu, 2006). These medicinal plants employed in traditional medicine represent potential sources of cheap and effective standardized herbal medicines and new molecules for the development of new chemotherapeutic agents (Ekundayo and Ezeogu, 2006).

In this present study, 2 plants traditionally used for the treatment of microbial infections were screened to evaluate of the antimicrobial activities of their extracts against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterococci faecalis and Mycobacterium smegmatis.

1.1 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

To assess the inhibitory activity of the methanol extracts of Costus spicatus and Milicia excelsa on Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli and Mycobacterium smegmatis.

To measure the minimum inhibitory concentration of the methanol extracts of Costus spicatus and Milicia excelsa on Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli and Mycobacterium smegmatis.  

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