Medicinal plants have provided a source of inspiration for novel drugs compounds since plant derived medicines have made large contributions to human health. The traditional healers make use of water primarily as solvent but extracts of these plants were certainly much better and powerful. This may be due to the better solubility of the active components in organic solvents (Umadevi, 2011).
The phytochemical component of the ethanolic extracts of Basella alba leaf revealed the presence of tannin, terpene, steroid, saponin, and anthraquinone, but carbohydrate was only present in the stem extracts related to the result in table 3. The result of this study is similar to previous report with an exception of the presence of flavonoids and phenolic compounds (Olajire and Azeez, 2011) and the absence of saponin and anthraquinone (Neha et al., 2011). The result of this study in table 1 and table 2 showed the antimicrobial activity P. aeruginosa, E. coli, S. aureus, K. pneumonia, B. species, A. flavarus and A. niger were susceptible to 150mg/ml concentration of the extract of Basella alba linn plant. The presence of these phytocompounds may be responsible for the antibacterial activity of B. alba linn extracts. The presence of these phytocompounds may be responsible for the antibacterial activity of B. alba extracts (Phadungkit et al., 2012). A. niger was seen to show the highest zone of inhibition among other fungi with the measurement of 20mm and A. flavarus was 9mm while C. albican and others are resistance to the ethanolic extract of the plant. Among the bacteria used for the study of my work, E. coli has the highest measurement for zone of inhibition with 19mm, while B. species have the lowest measurement of zone of inhibition with 9mm and some of the organisms listed above showed zone of inhibition while others are resistance.
The phytochemical screening and quantitative estimation of the percentage yield of phytoconstituents of the leaf extract of Talinum triangulare revealed the presence of alkaloids, tannins, phenols, saponins and flavonoids related to table 3. Similar bioactive constituents have been reported on leaf extract of Ocimum gratissimum (Mbata and Saika, 2008). They are physiologically active when administered to animals. Tannins hasten the healing of wounds and inflamed mucous membrane (Okwu, 2004). The presence of tannins in the leaf extract of T. triangulare supports its use in treating wounds, varicose ulcers and burns in herbal medicine. The occurrence of phenols in the leaf extract is an indication that the plant might be an antimicrobial agent. According to Okwu (2004), phenols have been extensively used in disinfection. The leaf extract of T. triangulare therefore possess potent antiseptic or anti-bactericidal properties as seen in table 2 which shows zone of inhibition against S. aureus, and B. spp. with the measurement of 16mm and 15mm respectively, but resistance to other microorganisms tested against. Furthermore, the presence of phenols suggests that the leaf extract of T. triangulare could act as anti-inflammatory, anti-clotting, anti-oxidant, immune enhancers and hormone modulators (Mbata and Saika, 2008). Flavonoids are known for their antioxidant properties. They protect the body against allergies, viruses and tumors (Okwu, 2004). This could be the reason why the leaf extract of T. triangulare is used in treating intestinal troubles in herbal medicine. The presence of saponins was also detected in the leaf extract. Saponins have the characteristics of formation of foams in aqueous solutions, hemolytic activity, cholesterol binding properties and bitterness (Sodipo and Akiniyi, 2000). These qualities make saponins a good material for manufacturing of drugs. The uses of the leaves of T. triangulare for nutritional, therapeutic and antimicrobial purposes have been revealed in this study. (Mensah et al., 2008) reported the use of leaves or roots of T. triangulare in treating ailments such as gastrointestinal disorder and oedema. The use of the leaves of T. triangulare as part of the dietary supplement in starchy food, sauces, condiments, spices and flavouring in human diets, and as supplementary feeds to livestock such as rabbit, poultry, swine and cattle has been reported by Alector and Adeogun (1995). These reports confirm their uses in the various localities surveyed. Ezekwe et al. (1997) showed that T. triangulare helps to reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases, these findings equally agree with the results obtained in this study. The present study has examined the phytoconstituents and antimicrobial properties of the leaves of T. triangulare. The results obtained in this study explain why the plant material is used in herbal medicine. The leaves of T. triangulare and B. alba linn can be seen as a potential source of food and drug.
