Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 Apr;4(2):116-22.
doi: 10.4103/0974-8490.94737.

Screening Togolese medicinal plants for few pharmacological properties

Simplice D Karou  1 , Tchadjobo Tchacondo, Micheline Agassounon Djikpo Tchibozo, Kokou Anani, Lassina Ouattara, Jacques Simpore, Comlan de Souza
Affiliations

Screening Togolese medicinal plants for few pharmacological properties

Simplice D Karou et al. Pharmacognosy Res. 2012 Apr.

Abstract

Background: Terminalia macroptera Guill. et Perr. (Combretaceae), Sida alba L. (Malvaceae), Prosopis africana Guill et Perr. Taub. (Mimosaceae), Bridelia ferruginea Benth. (Euphorbiaceae), and Vetiveria nigritana Stapf. (Asteraceae) are traditionally used in Togolese folk medicine to treat several diseases including microbial infections.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the antimicrobial, antioxidant, and hemolytic properties of the crude extracts of the above-mentioned plants.

Materials and methods: The antimicrobial and the antioxidant activities were assayed using the NCCLS microdilution method and the DPPH free radical scavenging, respectively. Human A+ red blood cells were used to perform the hemolytic assay. Phenolics were further quantified in the extracts using spectrophotometric methods.

Results: Minimal inhibitory concentrations in the range of 230-1800 μg/ml were recorded in the NCCLS broth microdilution for both bacterial and fungal strains with methanol extracts. The DPPH radical scavenging assay yielded interesting antioxidant activities of the extracts of P. africana and T. macroptera (IC(50) values of 0.003 ± 0.00 μg/ml and 0.05 ± 0.03 μg/ml, respectively). These activities were positively correlated with the total phenolic contents and negatively correlated with the proanthocyanidin content of the extracts. The hemolytic assay revealed that great hemolysis occurred with the methanol extracts of T. macroptera, S. longepedunculata, and B. ferruginea.

Conclusion: These results support in part the use of the selected plants in the treatment of microbial infections. In addition, the plant showed an interesting antioxidant activity that could be useful in the management of oxidative stress.

Keywords: Antimicrobial; antioxidant; hemolytic; phenolics.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Hemolytic activity of methanolic extracts: (a) Terminalia macroptera, Securidaca longepedunculata, and Bridelia ferruginea; (b) Vetiveria nigritana, Sida alba, and Prosopis africana
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Mokaddas E, Rotimi VO, Sanyal SC. In vitro activity of Piperacillin/tazobactom versus other broad antibiotics against nosocomial Gram negative pathogens isolated from burn patients. J Chemother. 1998;19:208–14. - PubMed
    1. Singh M, Khatoon S, Singh S, Kumar V, Rawat AK, Mehrotra S. Antimicrobial screening of ethnobotanically important stem bark of medicinal plants. Pharmacognosy Res. 2010;2:254–7. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mariita RM, Orodho JA, Okemo PO, Mbugua PK. Antifungal, antibacterial and antimycobacterial activity of Entada abysinnica Steudel ex A.Rich (Fabaceae) methanol extract. Pharmacognosy Res. 2010;2:163–8. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cock IE, Kukkonen L. An examination of the medicinal potential of Scaevola spinescens: Toxicity, antibacterial, and antiviral activities. Pharmacognosy Res. 2011;3:85–94. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Karou D, Nadembega WM, Ouattara L, Ilboudo D, Canini A, Nikiéma JB, et al. African ethnopharmacology and new drug discovery. Med Plant Sci Biotechnol. 2007;1:61–9.

LinkOut - more resources