ABSTRACT
The increasing rate of infection by antibiotics-resistant microorganisms had caused worldwide concern which has led to a rising interest in the research for natural products from plants for the discovery of new antimicrobials. The plant Anthocleista djalonensis, a shrub-like plant of the family Gentianaceae is one of the medicinal plants commonly used in folk medicine in the treatment of wounds, constipation, malaria fever, typhoid fever, stomach aches, hemorrhoids, syphilis, diabetes, and used as a contraceptive, laxative and purgative. The plant with the voucher no: UBH-A271 was gotten from the Department of Plant Botany and Biotechnology, University of Benin, washed, air-dried and pulverized The pulverized leaves were weighed and put into filter papers and extraction was done using Soxhlet extractor with methanol as the extracting solvent. The bacterial and fungal isolates; Enterobacter cloacae, Serratia marcescens, Bacillus subtilis, Vibrio cholerae, Penicillium sp., and Aspergillus niger were obtained from the Department of Microbiology, University of Benin, Benin City. The phytochemical analysis of Anthocleista djalonensis leave extract revealed the absence of alkaloid, flavonoid, terpenoids, phenols, saponins, tannins, glycosides and steroid. However, the extract showed antimicrobial activity against the test organisms. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the methanol extract for all bacterial isolates, except Enterobacteria cloacae, was determined to be 55ug/ml while for the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC), no value was obtained. The MIC for fungal isolates was determined to be 75ug/ml, while for the MBC, no value was obtained. The results of this study highlight the promising antimicrobial activity of the methanolic leaf extract of Anthocleista djalonensis. However, further research is needed to elucidate the mechanisms of action, optimize dosage regimens, and evaluate its potential as a therapeutic agent against microbial infections, and antifungal activity against a wide range of pathogenic microorganisms.
