Abstract

El-Mahmood A. M, Doughari J. H and Ladan N

Preliminary phytochemical screening of the stem bark extracts of Vitellaria paradoxa revealed the presence of carbohydrates, alkaloids, saponins, tannins and cardiac glycosides. Ethanol, acetone and aqueous extracts of the plant inhibited the growth of pathogenic Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, Proteus mirabilis, Shigella dysenterie and Salmonella typhi with varying degrees of activity with the ethanol extracts demonstrating the highest activity against all the test organisms. The activity of the extracts increased as the pH was adjusted towards alkalinity, but no significant increase was observed with increase in temperature. The MBC and MIC values ranged between 6.5-200 mg/ml and to some extent comparable to those of the conventional antibiotic chloramphenicol (6.5 mg/ml). There is scientific basis for the use of this plant as a traditional medicine and can therefore be used to source new antibiotic substances for the treatment of various enteric infections.