Evaluation of African Neem Plant (Dogon Yaro) antibacterial activity against certain pathogenic organisms

The neem plant is a tropical evergreen plant native to the Indian sub-continent. It has been used in ayurvedic medicine for more than 4000 years due to its medicinal properties. The phytochemical screening carried out on the extract of Neem plant revealed the presence of some active ingredients such as alkaloids, tannins, saponins, and phenols also glycosides, steroids, Terpenoids, flavonoids, and phlobatanins are present in this extract. It was observed that alkanoids has a concentration of 0.52g/ml, tannins has a concentration of 9.00g/ml, saponins has a concentration of 1.99g/ml, flavonoid has a concentration of 0.62g/ml and phenol has a concentration of 0.024g/ml. The antimicrobial activity of the Leaf, Stem, Stem-bark and Root extract of Neem plant (Azadirachta indica) against some of the pathogenic bacteria such as E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus epidermidis, was determined. This was done by using alcoholic and water extracts of Neem leaves, stem, stem bark and roots. Varying concentration of each extracts 200mg/ml, 150mg/ml and 100mg/ml were prepared and tested. When compared with Gentamycin 10mg, the Ethanol Extract of Neem Root shows maximum inhibition on Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus aureus and E. coli in an ascending order, followed by the ethanol extract of Neem Leaf which shows maximum inhibition on Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, E. coli and Staphylococcus epidermidis in an ascending order. Conclusively, this can explain the rationale for the use of the plant in treating infections in traditional medicine. The plant could be a veritable and cheaper substitute for conventional antibiotics since it is easily obtainable and the extract can easily be made via a simple process of maceration or infusion. However, further research is necessary to determine and purify the active components against micro-organisms.