Abstract:
Prosopis juliflora, a multipurpose dry land tree or shrub introduced to Kenya due to concern about desertification,
deforestation and fuelwood shortages, has become invasive, forming dense, impenetrable thickets, associated
with unfavorable impacts on human economic activities. It has soothing, astringent, antifungal and antiseptic
properties and is commonly used to treat eye conditions, open wounds and dermatological ailments. An
assessment of phytochemical composition and antimicrobial activity of ethanolic extract of root(REE) and
leaves(LEE) of P. juliflora against clinical isolates of Candida albicans, Staphylococcus aureus(ATCC-25923), Bacillus
subtilis , Escherichia coli (ATCC-25922) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC-27853) was carried out using paper
disc diffusion method. The results of investigation showed that all the extracts had inhibitory effect on the growth
of all the isolates. Only chloramphenical, erythromycin and minocycline were effective against all the bacterial
strains tested and there was no significant difference (P > 0.05) between the activity of REE and LEE at the highest
concentration compared to the activity of chloramphenical, erythromycin and minocycline. S. aureus showed the
lowest susceptibility to most of the conventional drugs while B. subtilis was most susceptible to chloramphenical.
All the bacterial strains exhibited susceptibility to erythromycin and minocycline while Penicillin, methicillin and
ampicillin were the least effective antibiotics. Both LEE and REE exhibited better antifungal activity compared to
cotrimoxazole and all the extracts had saponins, tannins and alkaloids; phytochemicals whose antimicrobial
properties are well documented. Results from this study strongly validate use of P. juliflora in the management of
microbial infections.
