Phytochemical Constituents and Anti-Salmonella Activity of the Combined Leaves Extracts of Selected Medicinal Plants in Mubi, Nigeria

Abstract

This study was aimed at determining the quantitative phytochemical constituents and anti-salmonella effect of the combined leaves ethanolic and aqueous extracts of selected plants in Mubi. The leaves of Citrus sinensis, Senna siamea, Moringa oleifera and Carica papaya were collected and shade dried; and consequently grounded and mixed in equal ratio. The combined powdered plants leaves was extracted using ethanol and water. The Salmonella typhi and Salmonella paratyphi used were obtained from the laboratory section of General Hospital, Mubi. The results of phytochemical analysis showed that the ethanolic extract had the significantly highest content of compounds like: tannins (4.96 mg/100g), alkaloids (8.45 mg/100g), flavonoids (3.00 mg/100g), saponins (9.12 mg/100g) and phenols (26.10 mg/100g), while the aqueous extract had lowest of all the compounds. The anti-salmonella activity test showed that the highest concentrations (200 mg/ml) of the ethanolic and aqueous extracts recorded the highest zone of inhibition of 0.73 and 0.70 cm and 0.60 and 0.80 cm on the S. typhi and S. paratyphi, respectively; while the lowest was recorded by the lowest concentrations of the extracts. However, the control used (ceftriaxone) was more effective against the two test organisms than the highest concentrations of the two extracts. The study concluded that the ethanolic extract of the combined leaves of S. siamea, C. papaya, C. sinensis and M. oleifera has higher phytocompounds than the aqueous extract; the anti-salmonella activity of ethanolic and aqueous extracts on S. typhi have no significant difference, while on S. paratyphi, aqueous extract is more effective than ethanolic extract.