Preliminary phytochemical and antimicrobial activity screening of crude extracts of bird lime (Tapinanthus globiferus)

Abstract

Several species of the genus Tapinanthus have folkloric use by the Hausa and Fulani tribes of the Northern Nigeria as a remedy for numerous human and animal ailments including stomach ache, diarrhea, dysentery, wounds and swellings. The preliminary phytochemical screening of the stem bark of Tapinanthus globiferus, was carried out using standard method. The result of the phytochemical screening of crude ethylacetate, n-hexane extract revealed the presence of carbohydrate, flavonoids steroids and terpenes. The antimicrobial screening against Candida krusei, methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Campylobacter jejuni, Streptococcus pyogenes, vancomycin resistant enterococci, Helicobacter pylori, Escherichia coli, Shigella dysenteriae, Staphylococcus aureus and Candida tropicalis was done using agar well diffusion method. The zone of inhibition of growth of microorganisms ranged from 22-28mm for the ethylacetate extract, and 18-21mm for the n-hexane extract and the minimum inhibitory concentration of the extracts was found to be between 0.63mg/ml and 20mg/ml while the minimum bactericidal/fungicidal concentration were found to be between 0.63mg/ml and 20mg/ml. This research has establish a baseline information on the efficacy of the crude extracts of Tapinanthus globiferus.

Keywords: Tapinanthus globiferus, alkaloids, flavonoids, antimicrobial screening, mistletoe