ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITIES AND PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING OF EXTRACTS OF THE FEVER TREE, EUCALYPTUS GLOBULUS

In this study, the antimicrobial activities of the aqueous, hexane, methanol, chloroform, ethyl acetate extracts from the roots of Eucalyptus globulus, was carried out against ten (10) gram positive and four (4) gram negative pathogenic bacteria by agar well diffusion method. The methanol and ethyl acetate root extracts showed pronounced inhibition against all the bacteria used. Maximum zone of inhibition was exhibited by methanol extract with 23mm, 21mm, 22mm, 23mm, and 24mm zones of inhibition to the growth of C. pyogenes, B. stearothermophilus, S.epidemidis, K. pneumonia and B. cereus respectively. These values were comparatively higher than those of the standard drug, streptomycin. Phytochemical screening of all extracts revealed the presence of alkaloids and steroids in the active extracts. The results obtained suggest that E. globulus could be exploited in the management of various infectious diseases.