PHYTOCHEMICAL AND ANTIMICROBIAL SC REENING OF THE WATER AND CHLOROFORM EXTRACTS OF THE SEEDS OF CHENOPODIUM AMBROSIOIDES (LINN)

Abstract

Chenopodium ambrosioides Linn (Family Chenopodiaiceae), possesses numerous medicinal uses which include its use as antimalarial, antibacterial, diaphoretic and sedative [1,2]. Aqueous extract of the seeds of C. ambrosioides Linn was subjected to solvent-solvent partitioning between water and chloroform. The water and chloroform extracts (A and B, respectively) were subjected to phytochemical screening. They were also tested for antimocrobial activivities Gentamycin (4.0 mgcm-3) was used as the standard drug for the antimicrobial activities. The phytochemical screening of the two extracts revealed that alkaloids, tannins, flavonoids, cardiac glycosides were present in both water and chloroform extracts; anthraquinones were only present in the chloroform, while saponins were present in water extract. Antimicrobial activities of the water extract gave the highest zones of inhibition (ZI) at the concentration of 500 mgcm-3 as 2.9, 2.7, 2.3 and 2.4 cm for Pseudomonas aeruginosae, Staphylococcus aereus, Escherichia coli and Proteus mirabilis, respectively; the minimum inhibition concentrations (MIC) were all at15.75 mgcm-3 with ZIs of 1.45,1.55, 1.30 and 1.35 cm, respectively. For the chloroform extract, the highest ZIs were 2.35, 2.05,1.60 and 1.75 cm, respectively, also at 500 mgcm-3; the MIC could not be determined due to shortage, but the ZIs for all organisms at the lowest concentration used, 62.50 mgcm-3, were 1.25,1.40, 1.25 and 1.20 cm, respectively. ZIs for gentamycin (4.0 mgcm-3) were 4.00±0.11, 3.00±0.04, 3.50±0.01 and 4.00±0.1 cm for the respective organisms. The values of the ZIs in these results showed that the extracts were active against the micro organisms studied because any extract with ZI > 6mm (0.6 cm) is said to be active against the organism3. This, in turn, implies that the extracts can be used to treat or manage diseases such as urinary tract infections, diarrhea, dysentery, wound infections, etc [3,4,5.] Keywords: Chenopodium ambrosioides, phytochemical, antimicrobial