‎ Qualitative Phytoconstituents and In Vitro Antimicrobial Study of Some Solvent Leaf Extracts of Acalypha wilkesiana Mull. Arg. (Euphorbiaceae)

This research aimed to investigate in vitro antimicrobial property of Acalypha wilkesiana against some selected pathogenic microbes that are resistant to drugs. The crude and defatted methanol extracts were screened for the presence of secondary metabolites as well as analysed for in vitro antimicrobial activity using agar-well diffusion method. The phytochemicals in the leaf include flavonoids, terpenoids, carbohydrates, tannins, saponins, cardeinolides, and cardiac glycosides. The methanol leaf extract showed activity against some microbes in a concentration-dependent manner, with highest inhibition zone against Salmonella typhi (24.67±0.33mm) at 500 mg/ml with insignificant difference as compared with to the inhibition zone of the standard drug, Ciprofloxacin (20 mg/ml) [25.00±0.57] and the lowest zone of inhibition against Streptococcus pyogenes, Bacillus subtilis, Salmonella typhi, and Klebsiella pneumoniae had the least zones of inhibitions of 7.00±0.00, 7.00±0.00, 7.00±0.00, and 8.00±0.00, respectively, at 100 mg/ml. S. aureus, E. coli, and C. albicans had no zones of inhibition and no zone of inhibition shown at any concentrations on Aspegillus niger. The antimicrobial susceptibility test shows that Acalypha wilkesiana had the highest activity against C. albicans (19.00±0.57), while no activity against Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumonia. Although the residual portion had the best antimicrobial effect, thus, this study has provided guide that the compound(s) responsible for the antimicrobial effect could be polar in nature.