PHYTOCHEMICAL INVESTIGATION AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF STEM BARKCRUDE EXTRACT OF Faidherbia albida

Abstract

The present study was aimed to investigate the phytoconstituents and antimicrobial activity of stem bark crude extract of F. albida. Dried powder of plant samples were subjected to sequential extraction using petroleum ether, chloroform/methanol (1:1) and methanol as solvents and were assessed for their phytochemical constituents using standard methods and the results of the screening test revealed that it is rich in many secondary metabolites such asalkaloids, carbohydrates, flavonoids, glycoside, phenols,quinones, tannins, saponins, terpenoids, and steroids compounds.Essential oil was also extracted by hydrodistilation from the stem bark of F. albida and it was investigated by GC-MS. The result of GC-MS analysis revealed that the presence of at least twenty three of components in stem bark of F. albida. Among those compounds were identified from the stem bark extract 1-isopropyl-4-methylbicyclo[3.1.0]hex2- ene(42.89%), 1-methyl-5-(prop-1-en-2-yl)cyclohex-1-ene(21.19%) and 2-(tert-butyl)-4,6-bis(2- phenylpropan-2-yl) phenol(5.69%) were the major components of the oil.The petroleum ether andchloroform/methanol (1:1)extract was subjected to silica gel PTLC to yield isolated compound FA-1and FA-6respectively.Extracts were evaluated for their effectiveness at different concentrations, against four bacterial strains including both Gram negative (Escherichia coliandSalmonella typhi) and Gram positive (Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus agalactiae) bacteria as well as two fungi species (Aspergillus niger and Fusarium oxysporum ) using the disc diffusion method.The entire tested samples showed the stronger antibacterial activity towards Gram negative than Gram positive and considerable antifungal activity against the Aspergillus niger.The crude extracts were also subjected to test their antitubercular activity and the results showed that the MeOH extract was showed two fold MIC of the reference drug ethambutol.