An Assessment of the Proximate Composition and Antibacterial Activity of Crinum Zeylanicum Bulb Extracts Used in the Treatment of Bone Setting and Healing

Abstract

The proximate composition and antibacterial activity of Crinum zeylanicum bulb was evaluated with the aim of understanding the rationale usage by herbal traditional practitioners on trouble skin and bone setting/healing. Aqueous, ethanol and n-hexane extracts were tested on Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi and Shigella dysenteriae using the agar well diffusion technique and zones of inhibition in diameter. The proximate parameters analyzed revealed the presence of moisture (39.58%±1.16), ash (6.26%±2.13), crude fiber (26.55%±0.68) crude fat (5.00%±0.00), total carbohydrate (43.95% ±2.15) , nitrogen (0.51%±0.06), crude protein (3.19%±0.01) and reducing sugar (0.49), The antibacterial screening results revealed that the aqueous extract showed marked inhibitory effect on the test organisms than other extracts at significant difference of ≤ 0.01 and more pronounce on S.pneumoniae while S. aureus was found to be the most sensitive toward antibacterial activity of ethanol extract and then the n-hexane extract showed no activity on the test organisms except for S. pneumoniae at (400-50mg/cm 3 ) concentrations and at 400mg/cm 3 for S. aureus. The MIC and MBC for the three extracts also concurred that water extract have higher potential of preventing the activity of the bacteria than the ethanol and n-hexane extracts. These results indicate that the bulb of C zeylanicum contained essential nutrients and antibacterial effects suitable for health benefit as it explained the medicinal action of the plant encountered in its therapeutic uses