Phytochemical and Invitro Antimicrobial Screening of the ethanolic extract of Theobroma cacao seeds and its fractions..

Abstract

Phytochemical screening of the crude ethanolic extract of T. cacao seeds and its partitionedsoluble portions revealed the presence of carbohydrates, flavonoids, saponins, tannins, alkaloids, steroidal nucleus and cardiac glycosides. The extract and its soluble portions were evaluated against sixteen pathogenic organisms at 4,000µg/ml using agardilution method. The ethanolic extract exhibited bacteriostatic effect on only Escherichia coli (ATCC 9637), while petroleum ether extract and the partitioned soluble portions of the ethanolic extract had no inhibitory effect on any of the test organisms at the same concentration. Further purification of the active extract using column chromatography gave rise to four major fractions that revealed varying number of spots in different solvent media. These spots presented different colors under sunlight, UV light and iodine crystals. Antibacterial assayof these fractions against E. coli, showed that three of the fractions also inhibited the growth of the organism at 4,000µg/ml. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC)and minimum bacteriocidal concentration (MBC) of the active ethanolic extract was4000µg/ml for both, while that of the active fractions ranged from 3250-3500µg/ml and 3250-3500µg/ml respectively.This shows that the crude ethanolic extract of the seeds of T. cacao and its fractions could be a potential source of antimicrobial agents.