Abstract:
Plants are of medicinal importance used in both local medicinal preparations and pharmaceutical products. The medicinal values of these plants are in chemical substances extracted from different parts of the plant. The aim of this study was to screen secondary metabolites from roots, leaves and fruits of Lantana camara L. and Solanum incanum L.and to evaluate antibacterial and antioxidant activity of the above named two plants. The fruits, roots, and leaves of L.camara L. and of S.incanum L. were collected within Maasai Mara University and taken to laboratory for identification. Phytochemical screening was done to evaluate the presence of secondary metabolites and the following tests were carried out: test for tannins, saponins, and flavonoids .The extracts from L.camara L. and S.incanum L. were examined for antibacterial activity on Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus using agar disk-diffusion method. The antioxidant activity was evaluated using 2, 2-Diphenyl picryl hydrazil (DPPH) radical scavenging method using spectrophotometer. L.camara leaves contained saponins; roots had tannins and flavonoids while fruits contained only flavonoids. S.incanum the fruits had saponins; roots had only flavonoids while leaves had tannins and flavonoids. The zone of inhibition against E.coli was found on L.camara leaves mean of 46.7mm and S.incanum roots at mean of 26.7mm.Growth of S. aureus was inhibited by L.camara plant ,leaves mean of 50mm,fruits 50mm,and roots mean of 40mm.S.incanum roots inhibited S. aureus at a mean of 33.3mm. Antioxidant was present in the fruits of the two plants and their percentage inhibitions were 6.58% and 7.89% for L.camara and S.incanum respectively. L.camara extracts were found to be more effective on S. aureus than E. coli. Data was analyzed using Analysis Of Variance at significant level of 0.05 and the calculated value found was 0.2129 indicating that the study was significant. The above named plants contained phytochemicals that were effective against the test organisms and oxidants.
