PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITIES OF POMEGRANATE (Punica granatum L.) LEAF, FRUIT PEEL AND SEED EXTRACTS

Abstract

The use of plants for curing diseases was inevitable as is already proven by seeing the problems associated with synthetic antibiotics. The Punica granatumL. has been reported for the treatment of medical and health related issues. The purpose of the present investigation was to screen the potential bioactive phytochemicals and assess the antimicrobial activities of Punica granatumL. fruit peel, seed and leaf methanolic extracts. The experiment was arranged in 3 x 3 x 1 x 6 completely randomized factorial design with three replications. The phytochemical composition of methanolic extracts of Punica granatum fruit peel, seed and leaf has demonstrated the presence of all tested phytochemicals including tannins, phlobatannins, saponins, flavonoids, terpenoids, steroids and alkaloids. The antimicrobial activities of methanolic extracts from Punica granatum extracts based on disc diffusion method indicated that the highest concentration of the methanolic extract (200mg/ml) presented the strongest antibacterial activity where the maximum zone of inhibition (15.33mm) was observed for peel extract against S. aureus. The highest concentration of the extract revealed maximum antifungal activity with the highest zone of inhibition (15.50mm) recorded for methanolic peel extract against A. versicolor.The antimicrobial activities were further tested by determining (MIC), (MBC) and (MFC) for methanolic extracts of Punica granatum fruit peel, seed and leaf against test pathogenic microbes.The results revealed that the methanolic extract from fruit peel presented the strongest antibacterial activity with MIC of 6.26mg/ml and the corresponding MBC of 6.25mg/ml against S.aureus. The strongest antifungal activity with MIC of 6.25mg/ml and the corresponding MFC of 12.5mg/ml was recorded for methanolic extract of Punica granatum fruit peel against A. versicolor whereas the weakest antifungal activity with largest MIC of 50mg/ml and the corresponding MFC of 100mg/m was observed for methanolic seed extracts against C. albicans. Thus, it can be conccluded that the methanolic peel extract of Punica granatum had exhibited the strongest antimicrobial potential while the seed extract had the least antibacterial potential