ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF AQUEOUS AND ETHANOL EXTRACTS OF VIOLET PLANT (SECURIDACA LONGIPEDUNCULATA FRES) ON TESTED PATHOGENIC BACTERIA

This study was undertaken to investigate the antimicrobial activities of aqueous and ethanol extracts of violet plant, Securideca longepedunculata leaves and root bark extracts against the pathogenic bacteria isolates of Salmonella typhi, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeroginosa. Disc diffusion method was used for antibacterial testing and Tetracycline drug at 250 mg/ml concentration was used as positive reference standards to determine the sensitivity of the strains. The results of the antibacterial activities revealed that the highest growth inhibition of the tested bacteria was recorded as 8.00±1.00mm at 250 mg/ml, followed by 7.67±1.15mm at 250 mg/ml and the least inhibition was 3.00±2.00mm at 100 mg/ml. The minimum inhibitory concentrations for E. coli and S. typhi were 124 mg/ml and 250 mg/ml respectively. The results showed significant effect (P < 0.05) of antibacterial activity; with the constituents of S. longepedunculata leaves and root bark extracts been used as potential antimicrobial agents in the management of microbial diseases caused by pathogenic bacteria species which may in turn  be an alternative to chemical antibiotics. There is need to carry out sub-acute toxicity and determination of LD₅₀ to isolate, identify, characterized and elucidate the structure of the bioactive compounds and mechanism of action of S. longepedunculata extracts against many pathogenic bacteria