PHYTOCHEMICAL AND ANTIBACTERIAL SCREENING OF PETROLEUM ETHER AND ETHANOL EXTRACTS OF SIDA CORDIFOLIA LEAVES

Abstract

The plant Sida cordifolia is used in traditional medicine by Sokoto people to treat microbial infections and stomach upset. This research is aimed at isolation of pure compounds and testing them on some selected bacterial strains. The powdered plant leaves was extracted by maceration for 48 hours using petroleum ether and ethanol. The qualitative phytochemical screening of alkaloids, tannins, steroids, saponnins, cardiac glycosides, flavonoids and anthraquinones were carried out sing standard protocols. The extracts were screened for antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtillus, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa using cup plate method. Column chromatography was carried out on the ethanol extract using gradient elution method. Further purification of column fractions was carried out using preparative TLC. Stigmasterol was isolated and characterized using NMR and LCMS.  The percentage yield of the extracts in petroleum ether and ethanol were 2.87 % and 7.18% respectively.  The phytochemical screening of the ethanol extract  revealed the presence alkaloids, tannins, saponins, cardiac glycosides, steroids, and flavoniods. The ethanol extract exhibited good antibacterial activity on all the test organisms with zone of inhibition ranging between 10 mm to 16 mm at concentration of 5 mg/mL, 10 mg/mL, 15 mg/mL and 20 mg/mL. The petroleum ether fraction did not show activity on the test organisms. The MIC and MBC results indicated that ethanol extract is both bacteriostatic and bactericidal on the test organisms at concentration of 6.250 mg/mL. It can be concluded from the results obtained from this research that the ethanol extract of Sida cordifolia had antibacterial activity and has provided preliminary scientific evidence for the use of the plant leaves extract for the treatment of bacterial infections in traditional medicine. Key words: Sida cordifolia, Phytochemical, Antibacterial and Stigmasterol