ABSTRACT

Baphia nitida is a medicinal plant of African origin that belongs to the family of Leguminosae. This plant has diverse and potential medicinal uses in traditional medicine for treating gastrointestinal problems, veneral diseases, diabetes, constipation, skin diseases, swollen joints, cardiac pain, diarrhoeal, painful menstruation and female sterility. This study was undertaken to investigate the bioactive constituents, vitamin content, mineral composition and antibacterial properties of chloroform extract of Baphia nitida leaf. The phytochemical screening of the extract revealed the presence of alkaloids, polyphenols, flavonoids, saponins, tannins and glycosides, with polyphenols registering the highest presence. 1-Eicosene was isolated from the leaves of B. nitida and was characterized using 'Fl, 13 C, COSY, DEPT, HMBC and FISQC NMR Spectroscopic techniques. Vitamins detected included thiamin (0.23 8±0.013 mg/bOg), niacin (1.070±0.035 mg/bOg), riboflavin (0.064±0.001 mg/bOg), ascorbic acid (5.600±0.000 mg/bOg) and f3-carotene (4.930±0.025 mg/bOg), with ascorbic acid and riboflavin having the highest and lowest concentrations respectively. Minerals detected included calcium (3164.5±0.245 mg/bOg), magnesium (1370.3±0.030 mg/i 00g), potassium (589.7±0.008 mg/bOg), sodium (390.2±0.008 mg/bOg), phosphorus (538.7±0.013 mg/bOg), nitrogen (3045.3±0.035 mg/bOg), iron (1.767±0.165 mg/bOg), zinc (0.423±0.025 mg/bOg) and copper (0.003±0.000 mg/bOg). Of the minerals detected, calcium had the highest concentration, while copper had the lowest. The antibacterial activity at varying concentrations; 100 mg/mi, 50 mg/mi, 40 mg/mi, 20 mg/ml and 10 mg/mi of the extract was investigated against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa using agar well diffusion method. The results of the antimicrobial assay showed that the extract inhibited the growth of the test organisms in a concentration dependent manner. The highest growth inhibition was seen against Staphylococcus aureus and the lowest growth inhibition was against Pseudomonas aeruginosa with MIC of 20.00±0.00 mg/mi and 49.67±4.71 mg/mi respectiveiy. The results of this research work revealed that Baphia nitida has a lot of phytochemicals which could be used as raw material by pharmaceutical industries for drug formulation. The ability of the extract from this plant to exhibit potent inhibition against these species of bacteria lent a contributing scientific evidence for the use of this plant in traditional medicine.