ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITIES AND PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING OF RICINUS COMMUNIS (CASTOR OIL PLANT) AND CALOTROPIS PROCERA (APPLE OF SODOM) CRUDE EXTRACTS AGAINST SELECTED CLINICAL ISOLATES
Keywords:
Antibacterial activity, Calotropis procera, Clinical Isolates, Phytochemical screening, Ricinus communisAbstract
Plants with medicinal properties are of great importance as a result of their pharmacological effects, and they
might be natural composite sources that can act as new anti-infectious agents. The antibacterial efficacy
of Calotropis procera and Ricinus communis were investigated for their effects on some selected clinical isolates
using Agar well diffusion method, Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), Minimum bactericidal concentration
(MBC), and phytochemical screening (qualitative and quantitative) and all were carried out using standard
methods and procedures. The acetone and aqueous extracts of the plants inhibited the isolates, for the acetone
extract, E. coli had the highest zone of inhibition 15.50 ± 0.50 mm at 500 mg/ml concentration while extract
of Ricinus communis had the lowest antibacterial activity against P. aeruginosa with a diameter of zone of
inhibition 4.00 ± 0.50 mm at 100 mg/ml and a diameter of zone of inhibition 4.50 ± 0.50 mm at 200 mg/ml
for Calotropis procera. For aqueous extract, extract of Ricinus communis had the highest antibacterial activity
against E. coli with a diameter of zone of inhibition 15.00 ± 0.50 mm at 500 mg/ml concentration while extract
of Calotropis procera had the highest antibacterial activity against E. coli with a diameter of zone of inhibition
14.00 ± 1.00 mm at 500 mg/ml concentration. The qualitative phytochemical screening of the extract confirmed
the presence of some secondary plant metabolites such as saponin, terpenoids, cardiac glycosides, tannins,
flavonoids, alkaloids, and glycosides. The results showed the effectiveness of both aqueous and acetone extracts
of the medicinal plant, the effect of the medicinal plant is also justification for their common use in African
traditional medicine and is known to be a potential source of different drug products for the cure of various
ailments.
