Antibacterial Activity of Leptadenia Hastata Leaves Extracts against Some Gastro-Intestinal Isolates

At present, drug discovery research is mainly focused on plant resources and their compounds. The study was conducted to determine the phytochemical composition and antibacterial property of Leptadenia hastata leaf extracts against some gastro-intestinal isolates. Clinical isolates of Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhi, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Shigella dysenteriae isolated from patients diagnosed with gastro-intestinal disorder were obtained from Microbiology laboratory of Murtala Mohammed Specialists Hospital Kano. Aqueous and ethanol extracts of Leptadenia hastata were prepared separately and subjected for phytochemical screening and antibacterial activity. The antibacterial activity of the extracts was determined using the agar well diffusion. The result indicated the presence of alkaloid, saponin, phenol, flavonoids, glycoside, tannin, steroid and terpenoid in both aqueous and ethanol extracts. The results of antibacterial activity of Leptadenia hastata leaf extracts indicated that extracts possessed antibacterial activity with variable degree of sensitivity against isolates with ethanol extract having higher activity (12.56 mm) than aqueous extract which has an average zone of inhibition of 11.22 mm. statistical analysis of the results showed that S. aureus is the most sensitive isolate. However, there are no statistical significant differences on the sensitivity of the isolates at p<0.05. It is concluded that the extracts of L. hastata possessed antibacterial agents.

Keywords: Antibacterial activity; Bacteria; Leptadenia hastata; Gastro-intestinal disorder