Phytochemical and antibacterial activity of Commiphora kerstingii leaves extracts

Abstract

Commiphora kerstingii has medicinal properties for the effective management of several ailments including typhoid fever. To establish the ethnobotanical rationale for its traditional use. The powdered leaves were extracted with n-hexane, methanol and water. All extracts were subjected to phtochemical analysis and antibacterial activity against some selected gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria using the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method. Phytochemical screening of the plants revealed the presence of flavonoids, saponins, alkaloids, steroids and tannins. The methanol and aqueous extracts had activities against four test pathogens while n-hexane extract had inhibition on Escherichia coli only. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of the extracts ranged from 16-30 ug/ml to 20-40 ug/ml respectively.