Phytochemical Screening and Antimicrobial Effects of Aqueous and Ethanol Leaf and Stem Extracts of Gongronema latifolium Benth

Aqueous and ethanolic leaf and stem extracts of Gongronema latifolium were investigated for the presence and composition of these phytochemicals (alkaloid, flavonoid, phenol, saponin, sterol, terpenoid and cyanogenic glycoside) and their antimicrobial activities at various concentrations against some selected clinical microbes (fungal strains: C. albicans and Aspergillus niger and bacterial strains: Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhi) using standard methods. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was employed in data analysis. Qualitative and percent quantitative phytochemical results showed that both the aqueous and ethanolic leaf and stem extracts contained these phytochemicals assayed but in varied quantities except cyanogenic glycoside. Antimicrobial studies indicated that both the aqueous and ethanolic leaf and stem extracts of Gongronema latifolium inhibited the growth of the microbes but at varied levels, and the inhibition was extracts concentration dependent. The ethanolic extract showed significantly higher inhibition than the aqueous extract in all concentrations except at 150 mg mLG1 where the reverse was the case.