Department of Chemistry

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Browsing Department of Chemistry by Author "Malembo, Maria Gorret"

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    Phytochemical Analysis and Antibacterial Activity of Croton macrostachyus for Management of Pneumonia
    (Busitema University, 2023) Malembo, Maria Gorret
    Background. Pneumonia kills nearly one million children annually and accounts over 22 percent of all deaths in children aged 1 to 5 years. Unfortunately, there is increasing cases of pneumonia despite the presence of drugs implying that the bacteria, Streptococcus pneumoniae has become resistant to the approved drugs. There are medicinal plants used traditionally in Uganda for management of pneumonia and other bacterial infections which include Croton macrostachyus. Therefore, this study investigated the phytochemical composition, antioxidant properties antibacterial activity and herbal formulation of C. macrostachyus for management of pneumonia. Objective. The main objective of this research was to determine the phytochemical composition antioxidant properties and antibacterial activities of C. macrostachyus and formulate herbal product for management of pneumonia. Material and methods. C. macrostachyus stem bark crude was extracted using hot reflux extraction and concentration method and qualitatively analyzed for presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, phenols, saponins, steroids and terpenoids. Phytochemical quantification was conducted using spectrophotometric method to determine the quantity of flavonoids, alkaloids, phenols and tannins in the extract. Formulation of an herbal remedy was carried out and organoleptic tests, density, pH were evaluated. Results. The phytochemical analysis confirmed the presence of flavonoids, alkaloids, tannins, phenols, saponins, steroids and terpenoids. Total flavonoid was found to be 23.28 mg/g, total alkaloid was 20.97mg/g, total tannin 4.67mg/ml and total phenol content was 6.77mg/ml. The formulated syrup had a brown color, with moderate sweetness, pH of 6.76 and density of 0.2g/ml. The antioxidant screening with DPPH scavenging assay exhibited activity of 43.2% for the extract and 30.53% for the herbal remedy. For ferric power reducing assay yielded 22.51% of plant extract and 29.58% of the remedy. However, the antibacterial assay was not evaluated. Conclusion. The findings of the study suggest that C. macrostachyus may be a potential source of antimicrobial agents for management of pneumonia due to the presence of alkaloids, tannins, phenols, saponins and flavonoids and its antioxidant activities Recommendation. From this research, it is recommended that further research to be carried out to investigate the antibacterial activity of the plant to obtain its minimum inhibitory concentration and evaluate the efficacy in animal models of pneumonia.