The Effect of Methanolic Extracts of Anogeissus Leiocarpus and Terminalia Avicennioides on the Growth of Some Food–borne Microorganisms

Anogeissus leiocarpus and Terminalia avicennioides are extensively used in Nupe traditional and folklore medicines to cure various human ailments. The preliminary phytochemical screening of the stem bark and root bark respectively revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, tannins and phenolic compounds, cardiac glycoside and terpenoids. In vitro antibacterial studies of the methanol extracts of both plants were carried out on six medically important bacterial strains namingly: Salmonella typhii, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Bacillus spp, Lactobacillus spp and Pseudomonas aeruginosa using agar plug techniques. The results of our antibacterial assay revealed that the extracts showed good inhibitory activity against all the tested pathogens compared with standard antibiotics like streptomycin. The extracts of the both plants showed antibacterial activity, justifying their continued use in treatment of bacterial infections. Further studies are required to isolate and characterise the active phytoconstituents in these plants as well as toxicity studies should also be done to determine their safety