Dried leaves of Abrus precatorius, Desmodium ramosissimum, Scoparia dulcis and aerial parts of Phyllanthus amarus used in folkloric medicine of Ebiraland were extracted with hexane, methanol and water sequentially using soxhlet apparatus. The extracts were screened for antimicrobial activities against Bacillus subtilis, E. coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi, Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans using the agar-cup diffusion protocol. All the extracts except the hexane extract of Abrus precatorius were active against at least two of the test microorganisms at the highest concentration of 100 mg/ml used in this study. The aqueous and methanolic extracts of Phyllanthus amarus were active against all the test microorganisms. The methanolic extract of Phyllanthus amarus also showed a broad spectrum of activity with a minimum inhibitory concentration (M.I.C.) of 1.56 mg/ml against all the test microorganisms. The extracts were also screened for secondary metabolites and the result indicated the presence of alkaloids, saponins, tannins and terpenoids. The results of this investigation, appears to justify the ethnomedicinal uses of these plants for the traditional treatment of infectious diseases. However, further investigation is required to obtain more information on their antimicrobial potentials and also to isolate their bioactive compounds.
Keywords: Medicinal plants, antimicrobial activity, minimum inhibitory concentration, phytochemical screening.
Mobile phones are increasingly becoming one of the indispensable accessories of professional and social daily life, although constant handling and usage in various environmental conditions makes it fomite. Thus, antibacterial activity of Psidium guajava leaf extract was evaluated against bacteria isolated from mobile phones within Umar Musa Yar’adua University, Katsina community. A total of sixty (60) mobile phones were randomly swabbed, twenty (20) each, from hawkers, students, and staff of the University community. These were used as candidates for isolation of bacterial contaminants using standard protocols. Variable concentrations (500mg/ml, 300mg/ml and 100mg/ml) of aqueous extract of the Psidium guajava were prepared and tested against mobile phones bacterial isolates using agar well diffusion method. Preliminary phytochemical screening revealed the presence of flavonoids, cardiac glycosides, saponins, tannins and terpenoids. Staphylococcus aureus (39.6%), Escherichia coli (29.7%), Klebsiella sp. (18.8%), Proteus sp. (8.3%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (4.2%) were the bacterial contaminants isolated and identified from the mobile phones. Aqueous leaf extract of the plant displayed promising antibacterial activity at 500mg/ml against all the isolates, with average zones of inhibition of 25.0 mm for S. aureus, Proteus sp., P. aeroginosa and 24mm, 6.0mm for E. coli and Klebsiella sp. respectively. The use of Psidium guajava leaf extract as candidate for production of antibacterial agent which can be used to disinfect mobile handsets is suggested. Keywords: Mobile phones, contaminants, Antibacterial activity, Psidium guajava, antibacterial hand wash
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