Ajiboye AT, Musa MD, Otun KO, Jimoh AA, Bale AT, Lawal SO and Arowona MT
In the present study, the dried leaf (144g) of B. monandra plant was extracted with 95% ethanol. The crude extract was partitioned into ethyl acetate and n-hexane layers to afford fractions with golden brown and greenish yellow colours respectively. The fractions were concentrated and coded EFBM and HFBM. The preliminary phytochemical screening conducted on the crude extract and ethyl acetate fraction (EFBM) revealed the presence of flavonoids, tannins, steroids, terpenoids, saponin, cardiac glycoside and phenols. The antioxidant activity of EFBM and HFBM was evaluated using DPPH radical scavenging assay with ascorbic acid as a reference standard. However, the result of analysis revealed that EFBM exhibited high antioxidant (IC50 μg/mL=0.010) activity than HFBM (IC50 μg/m = 5.564) and reference standard ascorbic acid (IC50 μg/mL=30). The antibacterial activity of EFBM and HFBM against three gramnegative bacterial strains (Eschericha coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsillia oxytoca) was also evaluated and it was found that EFBM exhibited highest antibacterial potential. In contrast to this, HFBM showed negligible or zero activity against all the bacteria strains. The results of the GC-MS analyses of EFBM and HFBM showed the presence of nine different phytochemicals. In EFBM, oleic acid which is classified as monounsaturated omega-9-fatty acid with percentage concentration, (40.76%) was the major compound as identified by the GC-MS and 4-hydroxy-5-methyl- 3-propyl-2-hexanone with percentage concentration, (42.70%) was identified as the major compound in HFBM. The results of this studies demonstrated that folk medicine can be as effective as modern medicine to combat pathogenic microorganisms. The millenarian use of the leaf of this plant in folk medicine suggests that it represents an economic and safe alternative to treat infectious diseases.