Original Articles
A. J. Yusuf , M. I. Abdullahi,
Abstract
An assessment of phytochemical composition and antimicrobial studies of the methanol stem bark extract of Neocarya macrophylla was carried out. Phytochemical screening was conducted using standard procedures and the antimicrobial property of the extract was evaluated against clinical isolates including Streptococcus pyogenes, Streptococus feacalis, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas fluorescence, Candida albicans and Candida krusei using agar diffusion and broth dilution methods. The result of the preliminary phytochemical analysis of the extract revealed the presence of carbohydrates, alkaloids, flavonoids, anthraquinones, tannins, saponins, glycosides, steroids and triterpenes. Susceptibility test (at 2mg) showed inhibition range of 22- 34mm against S. pyogenes, B. subtilis, B. cereus, E. coli, C. albicans. No activity was observed against S. feacalis, C. krusei and P. fluorescence. The Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations (MIC) range was 2.5-5.0mg/ml and the Minimum Bactericidal/Fungicidal Concentration (MBC/MFC) range was 5-20mg/ml against the sensitive organisms. The findings of this research indicate that the crude methanol stem bark extract of N. macrophylla contains bioactive components that have antifungal and broad spectrum antibacterial properties.