ABSTRACT

The antibacterial activities of ethanolic extracts of Costus afer stem and leaves were investigated on some pathogenic organisms namely; E. coli, Salmonella sp, Shigella sp, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus and Staphylococcus epidermidis using the disc diffusion method. Medicinal plants play a great role in human life and have substances that are used for traditional therapeutic and modern drug production purposes in primary health care delivery. Costus afer as a medicinal plant is commonly used for traditional therapeutic and other socio cultural purposes such as wrapping of indigenous food items, mat making, feed to small ruminants treatment of cough, measles, malaria, eye defects, hunch back and evil repellents. The major constituent of C. afer for modern drug production are steroidal sapogenins, saponins aferosides A.C and dioscin.      

Table of contents

Title page i

Certification ii

Dedication iii

Acknowledgements iv

Table of contents v

List of table vi

Abstract vii 

CHAPTER ONE

1.0 Introduction And Literature Review 1

1.1 Introduction 1

1.1.2 Aims and Objective of the Study 3

CHAPTER TWO

2.0 Literature Review 4

2.1 Costus afer 5

2.1.1 Growth and Development 5

2.1.2 Ecology 6

2.1.3 Propagation and Planting 6

2.1.4 Diseases and Pests 6

2.1.5 Harvesting 6

2.2 Phytochemical of Costus afer 6

2.3 Contributions of Medicinal Plants to Public Health. 7

2.4 Photochemistry of Medicinal Plants. 7

2.4.1 Alkaloids 8

2.4.2 Anthraquinones 8

2.4.3 Flavonoids 9

2.4.4 Tannins 9

2.4.5 Saponins 10

2.3 Pathogenicity of the Test Organisms 11

2.3.1 Staphylococcus aureus 11

2.3.2 Escherichia coli 12

2.3.3 Shigella spp 14

2.3.4 Salomonella spp 15

2.3.5 Staphylococcus epidermidis 15

3.3.6 Streptococcus spp 16

CHAPTER THREE

3.0        Methods And Materials 18

3.1 Materials 18

3.2 Methods 18

3.2.1 Preparation of Crude Extracts of the Plant Materials. 18

3.2.2 Sterilization of Glass Wares 19

3.2.3 Preparation of Culture Media And Sterility Test. 19

CHAPTER FOUR

4.0 Results 20

4.1 Yield of Plant Extracts 21

4.2 The Result of the Gram Staining And The Biochemical Tests. 21

4.3 Antibacterial Sensitivity Assay of Different Extracts 21

CHAPTER FIVE

5.0 Discussion 24

5.1 Conclusion 25

5.2 Recommendation 25

References

Appendix