Phytochemical and Antibacterial activity of leaf aqueous extract of Tamarindusindica L.

MalamiY.G.¹and JatauA²

Department of science Laboratory Technology,

Umaru Ali Shinkafi Polytechnic, Sokoto.

ABSTRACT

TamarindusindicaL. (Leguminosae) is a plant mostly found in West Africa including Nigeria. The plant is used for medicinal purposes in different parts of Nigeria. Phytochemical and Antibacterial activity of the aqueous extract of T. indicaleaf extract was determined, phytochemical screening test have showed that, the leaf extract contains, Alkaloids, Glycosides, Tannins, Saponins and absence of Flavonoids. The leaf extract tested for the presence of secondary plant metabolites using standard procedures. It was further tested for antibacterial activity against clinical isolates of Klebsiellapneumoniae, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeroginosausing disc diffusion and broth dilution techniques. Bioassay test results showed thatK. pneumoniae, E. coliandP. aeroginosawere sensitive to leaf aqueous extract of the plant with highest activity againstK. pneumoniae(19mm) at 200mg/ml, E. coli (18mm) at 200mg/ml, P. aeroginosa (17mm) at 200mg/ml respectively. The plant extract was found to show inhibitory activity against the test isolates which may be related to the presence of phytoconstituents, some of which are reported to be responsible for antibacterial properties of medicinal plants. This may suggest that T. indica used in this study has potential against microbial infections.

Keywords: Antibacterial, E. coli, K. pneumoniae, T. indica, P. aeroginosa, phytochemical.