Abstract:
Bacterial infections are prevalent in most parts of Kenya causing diseases
like pneumonia, typhoid, cholera and meningitis. This has contributed to
unsustainable socio-economic development following the emergence of
antimicrobial resistant strains of bacteria and hence the need for alternative
strategies that are not only effective against bacteria but environmentally
safe as well. This study was designed to extract and profile phytochemicals
present within crude leaves, flowers and roots extracts of Iris versicolor and
Nerium oleander for future antimicrobial activities. The plant parts were
macerated and extracted to obtain phytochemicals that were then identified
under different classes of compounds by treating them with different
reagents following standard laboratory procedures. About 500gms of the
grounded powder of the parts were soaked in 1.5litres of Hexane, DCM and
Methanol and left to settle for 24 hours after which the solutions were
filtered with Whatman No. 1 filter paper. The filtrate was then evaporated
to a paste using a rotary evaporator equipment. The paste was aliquoted
into 20gms and refrigerated for future qualitative analysis. About 2mls of
different test solutions were added to 1ml of the plant extracts solutions to
obtain tannins, saponins, terpenoids, flavonoids, steroids, phenols and
alkaloids. It was found that the test results of the three solvents used for the
extraction of the phytochemicals showed gradient elution of the
phytochemicals increasing from Hexane, DCM and Methanol. Hexane
extracted tannins, flavonoids and phenols while DCM extracted tannins,
saponins, flavonoids and alkaloids. Methanol with highest polarity
extracted tannins, saponins, terpenoids, flavonoids and phenols. It was also
observed that the polarity of the solvent determined the type of bioactive
compounds with the most polar extracting different classes of
phytochemicals than the less polar solvent. In all considerations,
methanolic extract of Nerium oleander leaves and flowers showed positive
results for all the phytochemicals present in selected plant extracts.
