PHYTOCHEMICAL, ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTIMICROBIAL EVALUATION OF EXTRACTS OF CISSUS ARALIOIDES LEAVES ON SELECTED PATHOGENIC MICROORGANISMS

 ABSTRACT

Plants used for traditional medicine contain a wide range of substances which can be used to treat various infectious diseases. Hence, methanol and aqueous extracts of Cissus aralioides leaves was analyzed for phytochemical, antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. The plant extract showed significant (P<0.05) antioxidant activities in both methanol and aqueous extracts. The antioxidant activity of both methanolic and aqueous extract of C.aralioides increased as the concentration increased with methanolic extracts showing higher antioxidant activity but both still lower than the standard (ascorbic acid).The methanolic and aqueous extracts of the test plant also showed ppresence of phytochemicals; saponins, glycosides, flavonoids, alkanoids, tannins and sterol terpens. However, the antimicrobial activity of the plant extract was evaluated against three E. coli,S.typhi,S. aureus and C. albicans using the agar disc diffusion method.  The highest antimicrobial potentials was observed for the methanol extract of C.aralioides against Salmonella spp inhibiting (25%), 18.5mm mean diameter of inhibition and aqueous extract with (25%)15mm mean diameter of inhibition. While the rest of the three test organisms were resistant to the extracts. The Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) observed was 50mg/ml and 25mg/ml with methanol and aqueous extracts respectively. This indicates that C. aralioides are efficacious and can be used in the management of the disease cause by Salmonella spp. This study demonstrate that C. aralioides has antioxidant and antimicrobial activities, which could be attributed to its phytochemical composition. The study suggests that methanol and water are both good extracting solvent for C. aralioides. Further work is required to isolate the active antioxidant and antimicrobial principles of C. aralioides.    

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title page ﾿ i

Certification ﾿ ii

Dedication ﾿ iii

Acknowledgements ﾿ iv

Table of Contents ﾿ v

List of Tables ﾿ viii

 Abstract ﾿ ix ﾿

CHAPTER ONE:  ﾿

1.0 ﾿ INTRODUCTION ﾿ 1

1.1 ﾿ Aims and objectives ﾿ 3

1.1.1 ﾿ Aim ﾿ 3

1.1.2 ﾿ Specific objectives ﾿ 3

CHAPTER TWO: 

2.0 ﾿ LITERATURE REVIEW ﾿ 4

2.1 ﾿ Plants from the genus Cissus ﾿ 5

2.2 ﾿ Antibiotic resistance and infectious diseases  ﾿ 7

2.3 ﾿ Mechanism of antibiotic resistance ﾿ 10

2.3.1 ﾿ Drug-inactivating enzyme ﾿ 11

2.3.2 ﾿ Increased elimination of the drug ﾿ 11

2.3.3 ﾿ Alternation in the target molecule ﾿ 11

2.4 ﾿ Acquisition of resistance ﾿ 12

CHAPTER THREE:  

3.0 ﾿ MATERIALS AND METHODS ﾿ 13

3.1 ﾿ Materials ﾿ 13

3.2 ﾿ Chemicals, media and reagents ﾿ 13

3.3 ﾿ Equipment ﾿ 14

3.4 ﾿ Medicinal plant material ﾿ 14

3.5 ﾿ Methodology ﾿ 14

3.5.1 ﾿ Sample collection and isolation of microorganism ﾿ 14

3.6 ﾿ Identification of microorganisms ﾿ 14

3.6.1 ﾿ Gram stain ﾿ 14

3.6.2 ﾿ Catalase test ﾿ 15

3.6.3 ﾿ Coagulase test ﾿ 15

3.6.4 ﾿ Indole test ﾿ 16

3.6.5 ﾿ Sugar Fermentation Test ﾿ 16

3.6.6 ﾿ Citrate Utilization Test ﾿ 16

3.7 ﾿ Herbal preparations ﾿ 17

3.7.1 ﾿ Herbal extracts ﾿ 17

3.7.2 ﾿ Culture Media ﾿ 17

3.8 ﾿ Phytochemical Analysis ﾿ 18

3.8.1 ﾿ Saponins (The Froth Test) ﾿ 18

3.8.2 ﾿ Cyanogenic Glycosides ﾿ 18

3.8.3 ﾿ Alkaloids ﾿ 18

3.8.4 ﾿ Flavonoides ﾿ 19

3.8.5 ﾿ Sterols and Triterpenes ﾿ 19

3.9 ﾿ Determination of the antimicrobial effect of the Herbal Preparation ﾿ 19

3.10 ﾿ Determination of Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MICs) ﾿

and Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBCs) of the crude Extracts ﾿ 20

3.11 ﾿ Antioxidant Test ﾿ 21

CHAPTER FOUR:  

4.0 ﾿ RESULTS ﾿ 22

CHAPTER FIVE:   

5.0 ﾿ DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION ﾿ 27

5.1 ﾿ Discussion ﾿ 27

5.2 ﾿ Conclusion ﾿ 28

5.3 ﾿ Recommendation ﾿ 28

References ﾿ 29

LIST OF TABLES

Table ﾿ Title ﾿ Page

1:  ﾿ Phytochemical analysis of methanolic and aqueous extracts 

of Cissus aralioides leaves. ﾿ 23

2: ﾿ Antioxidant effect of Cissus aralioides ﾿ 24

3: ﾿ Mean diameter of inhibition of Cissus aralioides leaves extract against

 the test organism. ﾿ 25

4: ﾿ Minimum Inhibitory Concentration  and Minimum Bactercidal 

﾿ Concentration  of Cissus aralioides against Salmonella spp.  ﾿ 26