Original Research

Phytochemical and antibacterial properties of Diodia scandens and Phyllanthus amarus on staphylococci isolated from patients in tertiary hospitals in Nigeria

Stephen K.S. Ojo, Frederick I. Esumeh, Samuel A. Osanyinlusi, Temitope O. Jeje
Journal of Medicinal Plants for Economic Development | Vol 1, No 1 | a7 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/jomped.v1i1.7 | © 2017 Stephen K.S. Ojo, Frederick I. Esumeh, Samuel A. Osanyinlusi, Temitope O. Jeje | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 13 January 2017 | Published: 31 July 2017

About the author(s)

Stephen K.S. Ojo, Department of Microbiology, Federal University Oye-Ekit, Nigeria
Frederick I. Esumeh, Department of Microbiology, Ambrose Alli University, Nigeria
Samuel A. Osanyinlusi, Department of Microbiology, Federal University Oye-Ekiti, Nigeria
Temitope O. Jeje, Department of Biochemistry, Federal University Oye-Ekiti, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: The rapidly growing use of herbal drugs or supplements in complementary and alternative medicine as substitute for orthodox medicine both in developed and developing countries is fast gaining ground.

Aim: This study evaluated both qualitative and quantitative phytochemical constituents of Diodia scandens and Phyllanthus amarus vis-à-vis their synergistic effects on clinically isolated staphylococci.

Methods: A total of 200 wounds and burns samples were obtained from patients in the accident and emergency unit of different tertiary hospitals. Staphylococci were isolated and characterised using standard microbiological procedures. Whole plants of D. scandens and P. amarus were Soxhlet extracted with absolute ethanol. The phytochemical analysis was carried out using standard methods. Also, the minimum inhibitory concentration and bactericidal effect of the combined extracts were determined.

Results: The phytochemicals present in D. scandens include saponin (6.58%), tannin (2.27 mg/100g), alkaloids (10.53%) and phytin phosphorus (1.80 mg/g), while phytochemicals in P. amarus include saponin (9.99%), tannin (5.82 mg/100g), alkaloids (9.67%) and phytin phosphorus (2.44 mg/g), revealing their antibacterial properties and phytonutrients. The combination study showed that a synergistic effect exists between the two plants on the isolates tested compared with individual extracts alone at the concentrations used.

Conclusion: It is noteworthy that the traditional use of these plants was not only confirmed but the combination of D. scandens and P. amarus also proved more effective as antibacterial agent compared with a previous study on the same plants using single determination.


Keywords

Phytochemical; synergistic; staphylococci; Diodia scandens; Phyllanthus amarus

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