Abstract

Phytochemical screening of the leaves and roots of Cassia alata (Linn) revealed the presence of some bioactive components, which have been linked to antimicrobial properties. The effects of water, methanol and chloroform extracts on some pathogenic Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Streptococcus pyogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Proteus mirabilis showed that the plant parts can be used to treat infections caused by these bacteria. S. aureus, Str. pyogenes and P. mirabilis were more susceptible, while E. coli andP. aeruginosa were less sensitive. The effectiveness of the crude extracts were enhanced at elevated temperatures and at near neutrality pH values, which attests to its use in traditional medicine to treat skin, urinary tract and gastrointestinal infections. The aqueous extract was less effective than the organic solvents, thus suggesting the inability of the traditional medicine practitioners to exhaustively extract all the bioactive components with water. The MICs and MBCs of the extracts against the test bacteria were high and correlate with sensitivity test results. The effectiveness of the extracts were less than the conventional antibiotic, metronidazole.

 Key words: Antimicrobial bioactive, pathogenic, phytochemical, traditional medicine