Antimicrobial activities of some fractions of the extract of emilia sonchifolia (linn.) Dc (asteraceae)

Abstract

The leaves of Emilia sonchifolia, used in ethnomedicine for the treatment of various diseases, were screened for secondary metabolites and antimicrobial activity on Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans. Phytochemical analysis showed the presence of flavonoids, glycosides, carbohydrates and saponins in both the methanolic extract and ethyl acetate fraction. The antimicrobial activity result showed that the ethyl acetate fraction of the methanolic extract demonstrated antibacterial action against all the bacteria tested, at 150 mg/ml and 75 mg/ml concentrations, using the agar diffusion technique. The chloroform fraction showed little activity against S. aureus and B. subtilis while the n-butanol fraction showed little activity against B. subtilis only, at 150 mg/ml. All the fractions and extracts did not demonstrate any antifungal activity. These results validated the use of E. sonchifolia leaves in ethnomedicine.