Medicinal plants have been used for thousands of years and continues to play a critical role in the healthcare system worldwide, with an estimate of 80% of all pharmaceutical drugs are of plant based in origin. Additionally, antibiotic resistant bacteria are becoming increasingly more prevalent, whereas the development of novel antibiotics is lagging. Due to these trends, the investigation of plants to determine if they possess any medicinal properties is essential. In the present study, medicinal compounds in the stem, bark, and leaves of Vangueria volkensii were extracted sequentially via Soxhlet extraction using petroleum ether (PE), acetone (ACE), and 9:1 ethanol/water (E/W) respectively. Utilizing the disc diffusion method, the antimicrobial activities indicated by the size of the Zone of Inhibition (ZOI) of each extract at concentrations 5, 15, 25, and 50 mg mL-1 were evaluated against six bacteria. Gram-positive [E. faecalis (EF), S. aureus (SA), Methicillin-Resistant S. aureus (MRSA)] and Gram-negative [E. coli B (EC), S. enteritidis (SE), S. flexneri (SF)] were selected based on availability. Preliminary results show that the antimicrobial activity was low to moderately active against all bacteria. Whereas the E/W and ACE extracts and the leaves extracts showed higher activity compared to their respective counterparts. This paper will report the antibacterial activity of V. volkensii against the selected bacteria and how it compares with known antibacterials.

Evaluation of antibacterial activity of Vangueria volkensii extracts

256th National Meeting (2018)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.