PRELIMINARY PHYTOCHEMITRY AND ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF ETHANOLIC EXTRACT OF OCIMUM GRATISSIMUM L.

Ethanolic extract of the leaves of Ocimum gratissimum was screened for its phytochemical and antibacterial properties on E. coli and Listeria monocytogenes at varying concentrations. The Agar gel diffusion method was used to assay for the antibacterial properties on the test isolate. The results showed that the ethanolic extracts at different concentrations inhibited the growth of E. coli and L monocytogenes. The concentration of 250mg/ml inhibited the isolate with highest diameter zone of inhibition ranging from 22mm to 25mm. The extracts inhibited the growth of the bacterial isolate in a concentration dependent manner with MICs of 9.25mg/ml. Phytochemical analysis of the leaf extracts revealed the presence of antimicrobial active agents such as alkaloids, phenolics, glycosides, resins, steroids, and tannins. These established a good support to the use of this plant in herbal medicine and as base for the development of new drugs and phytomedicine.