South Asian Research Journal of Natural Products

The pharmacological properties of herbal medicinal products have been attributed to different phytocompounds present in plants. Phytocompounds have constituted an alternative source of antimicrobial agents. This study was designed to investigate the bioactive constituents of two herbal mixtures marketed in Anambra State used in the treatment of Staphylococcus infection and typhoid and malaria. Qualitative phytochemical screening was carried out on the two herbal mixtures following documented procedures. Antimicrobial activity was assessed using modified disc diffusion method. The chemical constituents of the herbal drugs were assessed using gas chromatography-mass spectrophotometry (GCMS) and the mass spectra of the identified compounds compared with those of the National Institute of Standards and Technology database library. The preliminary phytochemical screening revealed the presence of alkaloids, phenols, saponins, tannins, steroids, glycosides, anthraquinones and absence of flavonoids in Sample A and presence of alkaloids, saponins, tannins, steroids, glycosides, anthraquinones and absence of phenols in Sample B. The GC-MS analysis revealed the following major bioactive compounds: 9-Octadecenoic acid (Z)-, 2,3-dihydroxypropyl ester (59.41%), Oleic Acid (7.98%), 1-Cyclohexylnonene (6.49%), 2,6,10-Dodecatrien-1-ol, 3,7,11-trimethyl- (5.31%), cis-9-Octadecenoic acid, propyl ester (2.62%), 9-Octadecenoic acid (Z)-, 2-hydroxy-1-(hydroxymethyl)ethyl ester (1.83%) and others at different concentration ranging from 0.02-1.77% in sample A; Acetamide, N-(aminocarbonyl) (31.14%), n-Hexadecanoic acid (15.33%), Tetradecanoic acid (11.97%), Hexadecanoic acid, ethyl ester (11.58%), Hexadecanoic acid, propyl ester (10.55%) and others at different concentrations ranging from 0.07-6.11% in sample B. The antimicrobial activity test showed that herbal mixture A inhibited the growth of four out of six clinical isolates used with mean inhibition range of 12.15±0.49 to 18.50±0.51 while herbal mixture B inhibited the growth of three out of six clinical isolates used with mean inhibition range of 12.55±0.35 to 18.80±0.28mm. The herbal mixtures contain diverse bioactive compounds and the presence of these multifunctional bioactive compounds in the two herbal mixtures explains the various pharmacological activities of these herbal drugs.