ABSTRACT

 Sacoglollis gabonensis is a plant used for the preservation of palm wine in Southern Nigeria. Direct addition of the bark of Sacoglottis gabonensis to fresh palm juice followed by microbial enumeration every six hours showed that the bark of the plant inhibited bacterial growth appreciably. The effect of various extracts of the bark on two bacterial species isolated from palm wine (Leuconostoc mesenteroides and Lactobacillus plantarum) was studied by using th© paper disc method. It was observed that three of the five constituents of the bark showed inhibitory effect on the bacterial. Ethanol, cold water, and hot water extracts of Sacogloltis gabonensis (Nche) for antimicrobial activity of concentrations between 40mg/ml, 30mg/ml, 20mg/ml and 1 0mg/ml were used to prepare the disc for the susceptibility testing using disc diffusion method. The sensitivity test of 30mg/ml and 40mglml of the ethanol extract showed higher zones of inhibition on the isolates while the cold water of the same concentrations showed lesser zones of inhibition. The microorganisms isolated from the palm wine includes; Lactobacillus species, Bacillus species, Zymomonas species, Leuconostoc species, Micrococcus species and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Microflora analysis of palm wine have shown that the initial inhabitants of palm wine are predominantly Saccharomyces cerevisiae and to a small extent, Schizosaccharomyces pombe and a Pichia specie. The addition of Sacoglollis gabonensis to palm wine suppressed the growth of microorganisms in the palm wine and therefore reducing the rate of palm wine spoilage.