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PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF FICUS SYCOMORUS LEAVES

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Abstract

Antibiotic resistance has become one of the major problems facing humanity. The need for new antimicrobials has been increased dramatically. Plants are considered as a major sources of new antibiotics due to the presence of phytochemicals. In Nigeria and other developing countries medicine plant materials have been used to treat various diseases since ancient times. The goal of our research is to evaluate the phytochemical and antimicrobial efficiency of Ficussycamorus leaf extracts. The leave of Ficussycamorus were screened for phytochemicals, antimicrobial activity and minimum inhibition concentration (MIC). The ethanol, methanol, n-hexane, petroleum ether and aqueous extracts of this plants were subjected to phytochemical and antimicrobial analysis as well as minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) analysis. The result of the phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of tannins, alkaloids, steroid, glycosides and flavonoids. The crude extracts showed various zones of inhibition

1.1BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Plants have been a good source of valuable of medicine.Plants are rich in several secondary metabolites and are a major source of chemical resource, they are a potential source of new drugs for man whose use to control diseases is an old practice. Among the known plant species on earth estimated  about 250,000–500,000, only a small fraction have been investigated for the presence of antimicrobial compounds and only 1–10% of these plants are used by humans (Borris, 1996). Plant species are estimated to be around 250–500 thousands (Cowan,1999). However, only a small part of them have been investigated for antimicrobial activity (Savoia, 2012); (Petrosyan, et al, 2015) ;( Borris, 1996,). People started to use plant materials to treat infectious diseases since ancient times even without any knowledge on their causative agents (Ríoset at, 2005). Nowadays, herbs are continually used in traditional medicine to heal various infectious conditions in many countries, including Nigeria. Moreover, in the last decades this tendency has increased (Rojas, et al 2006).

The plant kingdom is a treasure house of potential drugs and in the recent years there has been an increasing awareness about the importance of medicinal plants. Drugs from the plants are easily available, less expensive, safe, and efficient and rarely have side effects. The plants which have been selected for medicinal use over thousands of years constitute the most obvious choice of examining the current search for therapeutically effective new drugs such as anticancer drugs (Dewick, 1996), antimicrobial drugs (Phillipsonet al,1996), According to World Health Organization (WHO), medicinal plants are the best sources to obtain variety of drugs. About 80% of individuals from developing countries use traditional medicines, which have compounds derived from medicinal plants. However, such plants should be investigated to better understand their properties, safety, and efficiency (Arunkumaret al,2009).

Plants have been known to be used in pharmaceutical studies, impacting the healthcare system in positive ways such as treating of cancer and harmful diseases (Naczk, et al 2006). Plants are able to produce a large number of diverse bioactive compounds. High concentrations of phytochemicals, which may protect against free radical damage, accumulate in fruits and vegetables (Suffredini, et al 2004). Plants containing beneficial phytochemicals may supplement the needs of the human body by acting as natural antioxidants (Boots, et al 2008).

Nowadays, herbal medicines are still widely used in conventional as well as alternative medical practices in developed and developing countries as a complementary medicine (Calixto, et al 2003). Plants have been used as a source of inspiration in the development of novel drug. Phytochemicals that occur naturally in plants are responsible for color and organoleptic properties and knowledge of the chemical constituents of plants is desirable, not only for the discovery of therapeutic agents, but also because such information could be of value in disclosing new resources of such chemical substances. (Simpson et al,1999).

1.2AIM OF THE STUDY

The aim of this research is to carry out the phytochemicals and the antimicrobial analyses of sycamore (Ficus sycamores) leaves extracts.

OBJECTIVES

1. To extrac and identify the phytochemicals present in the leaves extracts of sycamore (Ficus sycamores)leaves extracts using the following solvents; ethanol, methanol, n-hexane, petroleum ether and distilled water.
2. To determine the antimicrobial activity ofthe extracts in (1) above against the following microorganisms; Staphylococcus areues, E. coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Aspergillusfumigatus and Pencilluimchrysogenum, by;

(i) Noting the inhibition zones (ii) determing the minimum inhibition concentration of the extracts

1.3             STATE OF THE PROBLEM(RESEARCH QUESTION)

1. The percentage composition of phytochemicals in medicinal plants differs.
2. Many microbial have become resistant to antibiotics.
3. Over or under dosage of antibiotics is challenging to traditional medicine.

1.4.            JUSTIFICATION OF THE STUDY

The result of this work will be of great significance to the scientific community because it would provide evidence based information on the importance of this medicinal plant as well as provide a guide to pharmacist on the minimum concentration of the extracts that maybe used in drug formulation. The result would also provide useful information to pharmacist to elucidate the medicinal potentials of the vegetable. The result if positive would create awareness to the general public on the use of the plant as remedy to different health