2017, Vol. 5, Issue 6, Part B

author(s)
Wakawa Henry Yusufu, Fasihuddin Badruddin Ahmad and Zaini Bin Ahmad

abstract
This present study was designed to evaluate the antibacterial potential and to determine the zone of growth inhibition of leaf and root extracts of Abrus precatorius on some bacterial strains. The antibacterial activity was evaluated against three bacterial strains,Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), Escherichia coli (E-coli) and Salmonella typhii (S. typhii) after successive maceration in four solvents (hexane, dichloromethane (DCM), ethyl acetate and methanol). Agar disc diffusion method was used to determine the antibacterial activity of extract (50, 100, 250 and 500 μg/ml) against human pathogenic bacteria. Zone of growth inhibition of extracts were compared with that of standard drug chloramphenicol and DMSO using a statistical software SPSS 22 and the result was expressed at 95 % level of confidence. A remarkable bactericidal activity of the leaf extract was observed in the extracts against the growth of the test organisms with mean values of zone of growth inhibition ranging from 10 mm to 12, except in methanol extract against E-coli, with the mean value of zone of growth inhibition is 6 mm at 500 µg/ml. Antibacterial activity was recorded for the root extract against the test organisms with mean values of zone of growth inhibition ranging from 10 mm to 12 mm, however hexane and DCM extract did not exhibit significant antibacterial activity against E-coli. The result of the study thus indicated the leaf and root extracts of Abrus precatorius contains phytochemicals that are potential antibacterial sources and can be used to discover bioactive products that may be useful in combating bacteria.