EVALUATION OF ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY AND BIOACTIVE PHYTOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF MANGO (MANGIFERA INDICA) STEM-BARK EXTRACTS

The spread of infectious diseases in the world is a major challenge for health institutions and pharmaceutical industries. The current trends of multi-drug resistance to the available synthetic drugs or antibiotics among emerging and re-emerging bacterial pathogens lead to serious risks. It is therefore necessary to search for new antimicrobial agents that are better, cheaper and without side effects for treating these infectious diseases, especially in developing countries. In this study, phytochemical composition and antimicrobial activities of aqueous and methanol extracts of stem-barks of Mangifera indica were investigated. Standard methods were employed to screen for the presence of phytochemicals. Agar well diffusion method was used to determine the antimicrobial effects of aqueous and methanolic extracts of M. indica stem-bark against selected bacterial (Shigella sp, Staphylococcus sp, Escherichia coli, Vibrio sp) and fungi (Penicillium sp, Yeast, Mould) isolates. Phytochemical results showed the presence of active pharmacological components such as tannins, saponins, glycoside, flavonoid, terpenoid, alkaloids, and steroid. Methanol extract demonstrated the highest activity of bacterial (Staphylococcus sp with 15.4 ± 0.36 mm zone of inhibition) and fungi (Penicillium sp with 9.3 ± 0.2 mm zone of inhibition). Meanwhile, in aqueous extracts, Escherichia coli (10.6 ± 0.2 mm) and Penicillium sp (10.3 ± 0.3 mm) were observed to have a higher zone of inhibition. M. indica stem-bark exhibited significant antimicrobial activity; this, therefore, suggests that the extracts are as good as other commercially sold antibiotics in inhibiting these microorganisms and could possibly serve as an alternative.