Analysis of Phytochemical Content and Antibacterial Activity of Tapinanthus dodoneifolius Extracts

Abstract

African mistletoe (Tapinanthus dodoneifolius) (DC), a plant parasite used ethnomedicinally for the treatment of several human and animal ailments including stomach ache, diarrhoea, dysentery, wound, cancer and hypertension was subjected to both phytochemical and antibacterial screening. The result of the phytochemical screening showed the occurrence of anthraquinones, saponins, carbohydrates, tannins, and alkaloids but absence of phlobatannins in the hemi-parasite. The In vitro assaying of the extracts using agar plate-hole and nutrient broth dilution techniques revealed a wide spectrum of antimicrobial activities against certain multiple drug resistant bacteria isolates with Salmonella typhi and Staphylococcus aureus being the most susceptible while Bacillus subtilis was the least. The inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the extracts ranged from 6.25 to 15.6mg/ml while the maximum bactericidal concentration (MBC) ranged from 25.0 to 62.5mg/ml. Interestingly, the antimicrobial activity of these extracts against the growth of Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, Staphilococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa; the bacterial species known to be associated with either crown gall or gastrointestinal tract and wound infections gave credence to the ethno-medicinal usage of the plant. Since the antibacterial activities and the phytochemical constituents of Tapinanthus dodoneifolius could partly be dependent on the host plant species and since the locust beans tree upon which this plant grows has a wide variety of ethno-medicinal applications, the wide traditional applications of this parasitic plant could also be explained on this basis.