Studies on brine shrimp lethality and activity of stem bark extract of Acacia senegal l. On respiratory tract pathogenic bacteria

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The crude ethanol extract from the stem bark of Acacia senegal was macerated with 60% aqueous methanol and partitioned into n-hexane, chloroform, ethylacetate and methanol soluble fractions. The fractions were tested for antibacterial activity using disc agar diffusion technique. All the fractions showed good activity against some respiratory tract pathogenic bacteria particularly in n-hexane soluble fraction at 1000 µg/ml , 3000 µg/ml   and 5000 µg/ml concentrations. The Brine shrimp test showed highest toxicity in n-hexane soluble fraction with LC₅₀ value of 6.7674 µg/ml. Phytochemical analysis of the fractions revealed the presence of alkaloids, steroids, cardiac glycosides, Tannins, reducing sugars and flavonosides.