antimicrobial activity of De Wild and Banks ex C. F. Gaertn on selected foodborne pathogens associated to gastroenteritis.

This study aimed at evaluating the antimicrobial potential of aqueous, ethanolic and methanolic extracts of two Cameroonian plants against selected foodborne pathogens. Bioactive compounds were extracted from De Wild seeds and Banks ex. C. F. Gaertn leaves using distilled water, ethanol and methanol as solvents. The extracts were tested against O157, , , , , , , and using the microdilution method. The results showed that distilled water extracted a more important mass of phytochemical compounds (18.0-24.60%) compared to ethanol (4.80-5.0%) and methanol (4.20-4.60%). All the extracts exhibited significant antimicrobial activity with MIC values ranging from 5 to 20 μg/mL for seeds extracts and from 1.0 to 20 μg/mL for leaves extracts. The different plant extracts were ten times less active than gentamicin. The most active extracts were obtained using ethanol as solvent and was the most resistant pathogen to all extracts (MBC>20 μg/mL). extracts were bactericidal against and while the reference antibiotic (gentamicin) was bacteriostatic against these pathogens. The results obtained from this study suggest the studied local plant materials as a source of antimicrobial compounds which can be valorized in the medical field as substitute of antibiotics for which many microorganisms have nowadays developed resistance mechanisms. Further studies need to be performed in order to characterize and identify these antimicrobial active molecules.