Phytochemical and antibacterial studies of Ensete gilletii (E. A. J. De Wildman) stem extract and fractions.

Abstract

Ensete gilleti (family Musaceae) is ethnomedicinally used for the treatment of diarrhoea, dysentery, stomach ache, digestive disorder and other bacterial infections were investigated for their phytochemical constituents and antibacterial potentials. The phytochemical screening of the stem fractions (S1-S4) revealed the presence of alkaloids, carboxylic acids, flavonoids, phenolic compounds, phlobatanins, reducing sugar, tannins and terpenes. Antibacterial screening of crude ethanol stem extract against Gram-positive (B. subtilis, S. aureus, S. pyogenes) and Gram-negatives (E. Coli, K. pneumoniae, S. typhi and S. dysentery) at different concentration (40, 80, 120 and 160 mg/cm3). Test bacterial isolates in ethanolic stem crude extracts revealed a broad a broad spectrum of activity in dose dependent manner. The zone of inhibition ranged from 16 to 29 mm and 16 to 31 mm of stems, compared to standard antibiotic (Ampiclox) (40 mg/cm3). S. aureus, S. pyogenes and K. pneumoniae were resistant against the stem extracts. The antibacterial susceptibility test of the stem sub-fractions displayed a wider zone of inhibition in all test bacterial isolates with concentration (200 mg/cm3) than the crude stem extract s with concentration (40 to 160 mg/cm3), with zone of inhibition ranging (18 to 24 mm) respectively. The MIC ranged (25 to 100 mg/cm3), while the MBC ranging from (50 to 100 mg/cm3) in all the susceptible organisms in the stem extracts. The broader spectrum of activity displayed than the standard antibiotic drugs (Ampiclox) suggest that the stem parts of the plant could be used as pharmaceutically important agents in drug formation in the treatment of numerous diseases.