PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF SELECTED MEDICINAL PLANTS

Abstract

Medicinal plants are the local heritage with huge importance playing a crucial role in global health care. They have been used for a lot human diseases treatment for ages. The connection between man and his search for drugs in nature begins from time immemorial, of which there is ample evidence from documented research papers and original herbal medicines. Knowledge of medicinal plants usage is as a result of the many years of struggles in search of remedy for human and animal illnesses thus man learned to obtain drugs in the aerial parts and the roots of the plants. Science has acknowledged their active action, and it has included them in modern pharmacotherapy. The knowledge of the development of ideas related to the usage of medicinal plants as well as the evolution of awareness has increased the ability of pharmacists and physicians to respond to the challenges that have emerged with the spreading of professional services in facilitation of man's life. People prefer medicinal drugs to conventional drugs because they cost less, have fewer side effects, they can be used for more than one condition and have multiple choice on how to use thus making them efficient and effective. The choice of the medicinal plants in study depends on the their combined effects to increase fertility where they help in unblocking the fallopian tubes which blocked as a result of using contraceptive pills and reduce muscle cramps which is a natural contraceptive. These plants help in improving the rate at which a female can get pregnant by supporting production of progesterone or regulating hormonal balance by supporting the endocrine system. Numerous studies have validated the traditional use of anti-fertile medicinal plants by investigating the biological activity of extracts of plants which have anti-flammatory and pain reliever properties and numerous phytochemicals such as alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, etc. The plants was sampled from Isoge, Nyamira county using complete randomized design. The plant materials was artificially dried in cold room, grinded and extracts obtained through total extraction using methanol and boil in distilled water to obtain an aqueous extract. Phytochemical present was evaluated using chromatographic technique (TLC) and qualitative tests, biological activity was determined by agar well diffusion method. Alkaloids, phenolics, tannins, saponins and terpenoids were phytochemicals present. On the side of biological activity, there was minimum and maximum effect on the bacterial stains for extracts obtained from aerial parts. Plants interacted positively at P≤0.05.