An in vitro investigation of the phytochemical contents of Marsdenia macrantha root and its antibacterial activity against selected foodborne pathogens

INTRODUCTION: Marsdenia macrantha is a crucial source of traditional medicine in Northern Namibia. Its roots are used to treat various health conditions ranging from mouth infections to urinary retention. Despite its medicinal application, there is no known knowledge of its therapeutic properties. Thus, we investigated the phytochemical content and antibacterial activity of M. macrantha. METHODS: M. macrantha root extracts were obtained using three different solvents (distilled water, methanol and acetone) - in the soxhlet and maceration extraction methods. Total phytochemical (terpenoid, alkaloid and/or flavonoid) content was determined by spectrophotometry. Antibacterial activity against common foodborne pathogens (Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhi) was determined by both well and disc diffusion method. RESULTS: we detected the presence of all the tested phytochemicals. Methanol gave the highest percentage yield of extraction (mean: 13.95 ± standard deviation: 0.41%) followed by water (10.92 ± 0.11%) and acetone (6.85 ± 0.23%), F-ratio=326.71 and p<0.0003. The total content determined showed that M. macrantha root extract contained more flavonoids than alkaloids (mg of standard per grams of the dry material). Antibacterial analyses showed inhibitory activity against all the selected pathogens, with the highest inhibition zone against S. typhi (19.7 ± 0.3 mm) - for the acetone-prepared root extract. There were variations in minimum inhibitory concentrations of the extracts prepared by the different solvents. CONCLUSION: this is the first study demonstrating the presence of phytochemicals and antibacterial properties of M. macrantha roots. Further studies are needed to isolate and characterize the phytochemicals for antibacterial application.