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ABSTRACT
Tetrapleura tetraptera (gum plant) is a plantcommonly found naturally in the rainforest belt of tropical Africa and its fruit is widely utilized as a spice in traditional Nigerian dishes such as Banga soup. This study was carried out to investigate the antibacterial and phytochemical properties of ethanolic extracts derived from different parts of the T. tetraplera plant using standard procedures. The exposed bacterial isolates were cultured from different meat samples using serial dilution, pour plate and these isolates were tentatively identified using identification tests such as Gram staining test. Bacterial isolates identified from the meat samples were; Morgenella sp, Enterobacter aerogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella oxytoca and Bacillus subtilis. The phytochemical screening of several T. tetraptera extracts revealed the presence of saponins, terpenoids, phenols, glycoside and alkaloids. Antimicrobial screening results showed that all test bacteria were sensitive to the extracts with increased concentration. T. tetraplera essential oil can be employed as a potential source of bioactive phytochemicals. It is recommended that further studies aimed at quantifying the concentrations of phytochemicals present in the essential oils should be conducted.
