Abstract

Adebayo, E. A. and Ishola, O. R.

The root, stem-bark and leaves of Terminalia glaucescens were investigated for activity against some pathogenic organisms. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of alkaloids, tannins, saponins, steroids, flavonoids, anthraquinones and phlobatannins (mostly in root and stem -bark). The results of in-vitro antimicrobial screening of the crude methanol extract exhibited a wide range of activity on Salmonella typhi, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Proteus mirabilis and Candida albicans. The crude leaf extracts inhibited the growth of E. coli, S. aureus, S. typhi and C. albicans at a concentration of 50, 80, 40 and 60 mg/ml respectively, while the stem-bark extract had minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 40 mg/ml on K. pneumoniae, S. aureus, S. typhi and 30 mg/ml on C. albicans. The extract from the root inhibited the growth of E. coli at a concentration of 10 mg/ml while K. pneumoniae, P. mirabilis and C. albicans were inhibited at a concentration of 60 mg/ml. The findings indicated that the extracts from T. glaucescens, contained bioactive components that have antimicrobial properties.