In-vitro PHYTOCHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION AND ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF Newbouldia laevis (BOUNDARY TREE) ON Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus

Different extracts of leaves and roots of Newbouldia laevis were screened for their phytochemical and in-vitro antibacterial properties on clinical isolates of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The well-in-agar diffusion technique was used to assay for the antibacterial properties and the results showed that the cold water, hot water, cold ethanol and soxhlet extracts of both parts of the plant at 200 mg/ml concentration inhibited the growth of all test organisms. The soxhlet extract had a more significant inhibition on E. coli. Also, the soxhlet extracts had the lowest Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) ranging 25 – 30 mg/ml while the cold water extracts had the highest MIC ranging 80 – 115 mg/ml. The phytochemical components obtained from the leaf extracts are phenols and glycosides while the root extracts contained phenols, glycoside and tannins. Some of these active components may have elicited the antibacterial activity.