Comparative phytochemical and antibacterial screening of leaves of Terminalia catappa Linn.(Combretacea)

Abstract

Terminalia catappa Linn (Combretaceae), a tree commonly found in the tropics is used in Hausa ethnomedicine in the treatment of liver diseases, diabetes, asthma, diarrhoea and typhoid fever. In the latter case however, only the dried fallen leaves are used. Comparative preliminary  phytochemical screening of the fresh and dried fallen leaves extracts
revealed the presence of saponins, steroids and triterpenes, fatty acids, tannins and glycosides in both types of the leaves. Alkaloids and flavonoids were found only in the dried fallen leaves. The antibacterial assay of both the fresh and dried fallen leaves extracts indicated higher activity against Salmonella typhii (clinical isolates) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 10145) by extracts of dried fallen leaves