Chemical Constituents and Antimicrobial Activities of Combretumpaniculatum

Abstract

Combretumpaniculatum(combretaceae), has been used widely in ethno medicine in the treatment of chronic diarrhea and dysentery, flatulence, vomiting, colic, and enlarge spleen and liver. The leaf and root of Combretumpaniculatum were pulverized and extracted by serial exhaustive method with solvents: chloroform, ethyl acetate and ethanol in order of increasing polarity, the chemical composition and the antimicrobial activities were investigated using Gas Chromatography- Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) and Agar-well Diffusion methods respectively. The GC-MS analysis carried out on the leaves and roots extracts of Combretumpaniculatum afforded fifty compounds with the prevailing compounds as Thiirane, Urea, 1,5- Heptadiene, Carbonyl sulfide, Hydrazine, Propanamide, Guanidine, Isobutylamine, Acetic acid, Hexanoic acid, Inositol, Ethane, 5-Chlorovaleric acid and 1-Propanol. These active constituents have been reported to be responsible for many biological activities. The antibacterial analysis of the extracts revealed high activity against the tested pathogens except Pseudomonas aeruginosa staphylococcus aureus (ethylacetate leaf and root extract) and candida albicans (ethanol root). The Minimum Inhibitory Concentration of the extracts were recorded as low as 0.0078mg/ml, the results obtained confirmed that the extracts were highly bactericidal and fungicidal at low concentration. The plant Combretumpaniculatum therefore can be explored in the development of potent antibiotics.