Abstract:
The aim of this study is to investigate the antimicrobial activity of Terminalia catappa leaves extract against
Salmonella species. Leaves samples were collected randomly from T. catappa trees, air dried, pulverized and
extracted with distilled water. The extracts were portioned to form three treatments which were boiling, soaking
and methanol. The activities of the plant extracts on the microorganism were determined by 96 Well Microtitre
Plate method. Ciprofloxacin was used as positive control. The Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of T.
catappa against selected Salmonella species ranged between 1.321 mg/ml to 3.124mg/ml. The Minimum
Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) of T. catappa against selected Salmonella species ranged between 100mg/ml
to 4000mg/ml. The results obtained from the antibacterial analysis of the treatments of T. catappa were
statistically analyzed by using one-way Analysis of variance (ANOVA) which revealed that there was no
significant difference in the effect of the T. catappa (F cal=67.02 at 0.01). The qualitative screening revealed
that Alkaloids, Tannins, Steroids, Saponins and Reducing sugar were present in the extract of T. catappa. The
study revealed that T. catappa extracts contains bioactive constituents with high antimicrobial activity against
Salmonella species and could potentially possess rich medicinal constituents when subjected to further chemical
and pharmacological studies.
