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The antibacterial potency of methanol, petroleum ether and hot water leaf extracts of Anthocleista
djalonensis was screened against some pathogenic bacteria namely: Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella
typhi and Escherichia coli that causes diarrhoea. Clinical and typed isolates of the test organisms were used
for this study. The antibacterial assay was carried out in-vitro and it revealed that the extracts inhibited the
test organisms at a concentration of 50 mg/ml except petroleum ether which was unable to inhibit the
growth of Escherichia coli. The result of the phytochemical screening reveals the presence of tannin,
saponin, steroid, flavonoid, terpenoid and cardiac glycoside in the leaf extracts. The minimum inhibitory
concentration (MIC) of the leaf extracts ranges from 30 mg/ml to 5.0 mg/ml. The rate at which the extract
was able to kill the test organisms showed a decrease in the number of colonies of the organism with
increased time of exposure to the extracts. Sodium and potassium ions were leaked from the cells of the test
organisms which is indicative of the inhibitory effect of the extracts on the test organisms. The antibacterial
assay of the column fractions had the highest zone of inhibition of 22.0 mm on Salmonella typhi with ethyl
acetate and least on Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli (NCIB 86) with 4.0 mm zone of inhibition
respectively.
Keywords: Antibacterial potency, diarrhoea, phytochemical screening, column fractions, zone of
inhibition.