Comparative study of the phytochemical and antibacterial activity of leaf extracts of Euphorbia heterophylla and Vitellaria paradoxa

A comparative study was carried out to determine the phytochemical components and Euphorbia heterophylla antibacterial activity as well as Vitellaria paradoxaleaf crude extracts on four enteric organisms, namely: Proteus vulgaris, Salmonella Typhi, Shigella flexneri, and Escherichia coli. The clinical isolates of the enteric organisms were subjected to test of antimicrobial susceptibility using technique of agar diffusion. Phytochemistry of the E. heterophylla crude extracts exposed the presence of more phenolics, phlobatannins, tannins and cardiac glycosides than V. paradoxa, which revealed the presence of more steroids. All crude E. heterophylla extracts produced high clear inhibition zones, compared to the V. paradoxa counterpart at concentration ranging from 50 to 200 mg/ml. In vivo antimicrobial assay discovered that the mice treated with the crude methanolic E. heterophylla extracts, after being infected with the test organisms, survived and showed no pathological effects as compared to the V. paradoxa counterpart, which showed 20% pathological effects. E. heterophylla crude extract could be a possible source for the diseases treatment associated with enteric organisms such as P. vulgaris, S. Typhi, S. flexneri, as well as E. coli. Additional studies should be directed towards isolation as well as characterisation of the active compound in the crude extracts.