Phytochemical Screening and Antimicrobial Analysis of Pseudelephantopus Spicatus (Juss.) Rohr. Leaf Extracts

The study determine the phytochemical components and antimicrobial activities of Pseudelephantopus spicatus (Juss.) Rohr. young and mature leaf. The collected leaves were air-dried for 1 week, pulverized and macerated with 95% of ethanol for 72 hours. Results of the phytochemical screening, alkaloid, saponin, tannin, phenol, protein, and carbohydrates are present in both young and mature leaf extracts.  However, the diterpene test gave positive result in young leaf extract but not in mature leaf extract. Antimicrobial analysis of young and mature ethanol leaf extracts using disc diffusion method and with test microbes E. coli, S. aureus, C. albicans, and A. niger shows potent antimicrobial activities compared with the positive standards Cotrimoxazole, Ampicillin, Itraconazole and Fungisol.  Generally, Pseudelephantopus spicatus leaf extracts contain both antibacterial activities (mean = 21.95 mm and 20.79 mm, respectively for E. coli and S. aureus, in the young leaf; mean = 23.66 mm and 21.23 mm, respectively for the same bacteria in the mature leaf) and antifungal activities (mean = 27.12 mm and 35.66 mm, respectively for C. albicans and A. niger, in the young leaf; mean = 34.96 mm and 33.43 mm, respectively for the same fungi, in the mature leaf).