ANTIMICROBIAL PROPERTIES OF Piper guineense ON SOME PATHOGENIC ORGANISMS

ABSTRACT

This research was aimed at evaluating the antimicrobial properties of Piper guinens is. The leaf was bought from a local market dried and crushed into powder. The Leaf powder was sieved using whatman no.1 filter paper and extracted using two solvents of extraction (ethanol and cold water). The Phytochemicals analyzed for were tannins, saponins, alkaloids, flavonoids, and glycosides using the methods prescribed by Trease and Evans (1989) and Harbone (1998). The antibacterial screening of the ethanolic and aqueous extracts was carried out using two methods Agar Well Diffusion Method and Disk Diffusion Method. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bacterial concentration were determined. The results in this study showed that the leaf extracts of P. guineense inhibited the growth of S. aureus, E. coli and S. typhimurium suggesting its antibacterial activity. Higher antibacterial activity of the extracts was observed against S. typhimurium followed by E. coli and then S. aureus. This study shows that the aqueous extract of P. guineense showed less antibacterial activity than the ethanolic extracts against the pathogenic organisms. Also the agar well diffusion method was known to exhibit higher antibacterial activity on the isolates than the disk diffusion method.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page ﾿ i

Certification ﾿ ii

Dedication ﾿ iii

Declaration ﾿ iv

Acknowledgements ﾿ v

Table of Contents ﾿ vi

Abstract ﾿ vii

CHAPTER ONE

1.1  ﾿ Introduction ﾿ 1

1.2    ﾿ Aims and Objectives ﾿ 3

1.3    ﾿ Limitation of Study ﾿ 3

CHAPTER TWO

2.0    ﾿ Literature Review ﾿ 4

2.1    ﾿ Scientific Classification ﾿ 4 ﾿

2.2    ﾿ Cultivation and Distribution ﾿ 4

2.3    ﾿ Properties ﾿ 5

2.4    ﾿ Phytochemicals ﾿ 5

2.5    ﾿ Uses ﾿ 6

2.6    ﾿ Toxicity ﾿ 6

2.7    ﾿ Pathogenesis of Test Organisms ﾿ 7

2.7.1Escherichia coli ﾿ 7

2.7.2Staphylococcus aureus ﾿ 8

2.7.3 ﾿ Salmonella typhimurium ﾿ 10

CHAPTER THREE

3.0 ﾿ Materials and Methods ﾿ 12

3.1 ﾿ Collection of Plant Materials ﾿ 12

3.2    ﾿ Preparation of Extracts ﾿ 12

3.3      ﾿ Sources of Test Organisms ﾿ 13

3.4      ﾿ Determination of Antibacterial Activity of Extracts ﾿ 14

3.5      ﾿ Determination of Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (Mic) of Extracts ﾿ 15

3.6    ﾿ Determination of Minimum Bacterial Concentration ﾿ 15

3.7    ﾿ Phytochemical Analysis ﾿ 16

CHAPTER FOUR

4.0 ﾿ Results ﾿ 18

CHAPTER FIVE ﾿

5.0 ﾿ Discussion, Conclusion and Recommendation ﾿ 28

5.1 ﾿ Discussion ﾿ 28

5.2 ﾿ Conclusion ﾿ 30

5.3 ﾿ Recommendation ﾿ 30

REFERENCES