ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY AND PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING OF Tamarindus indica

The petroleum ether, methanol and water extracts of Tamarindus indica (fruits), were screened for their antimicrobial activity against four standard bacteria, one Gram positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus), three Gram negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Proteus vulgaris and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and two fungi namely Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans in comparison to two references antibiotics (Ampicillin and Gentamicin) and two references antifungal drugs (Clotrimazole and Nystatin) using the cup plate agar diffusion method.

The petroleum ether extract of the fruit of Tamarindus indica showed no activity against all organisms tested. The methanol extract was more active against all bacteria and fungi tested than the aqueous extract, so it was further tested against 112 clinical isolates collected randomly from National Laboratory, Police Hospital, Omdurman Teaching Hospital and Khartoum State Central Laboratory and the minimum inhibitory concentration was also determined using the agar plate dilution method. Alkaloids, coumarins, deoxy sugars, flavonoids, tannins, triterpenes, saponins and unsaturated sterols were detected by preliminary phytochemical screening. Anthraquinone glycosides, cardiac glycosides, cyanogenic glycosides were absent.

This study aimed to evaluate the antimicrobial activity and phytochemical screening of the extracts of the fruits of Tamarindus indica growing in Sudan.