Medicinal plants are plants which contains substances that can be used for
therapeutic purposes or which are precursors for the synthesis of useful drugs. The
medicinal value of these plants lies in some chemical substances that produce a
definite physiological action on the human body. Medicinal plant have continued to
attract attention in the global search for effective methods of using plants’
parts(e.g. seeds, stems, leaves, roots, peel, bark etc) for the treatment of many
diseases affecting humans. Many important drugs used in medicine today are directly
or indirectly derived from plants due to its bioactive constituents such as;
alkaloids, steroids, tannins e.t.c. (Hill, 1952).
In recent years, secondary plant metabolites previously with unknown
pharmacological activities have been extensively investigated as sources of
medicinal agents. Thus is anticipated that photochemical with adequate
antimicrobial efficacy will be use for treatment of bacterial infections.
The avocado (PerseaAmericana) belongs to the Lauraceaefamily of tropical and
Mediterranean trees and shrubs; other members of this family include: laurel,
cinnamon, safaris and green-heart (a timber of the Guiana’s). The avocado is
thought to have originated from Mexico and Central South America; for thousands of
years and till today, it has been a popular food in those places. In the mid 17th
Century, they were introduced to West Africa, Mauritius and India.
The world is facing explosive increase in resistant strains of microorganisms. It
poses a serious challenge to primary health care in un developing countries, with
negative consequences on the economy. Antibiotics such as penicillin and
erythromycin which used to have a high efficacy against bacteria species and
strains, have become less effective, due to the increased resistance of many
bacteria.
Previous and recent studies have shown that the leaf, back and seed extract of
avocado pear (P. americana) are rich sources of photochemical such as saponins,
steroids, alkaloids, as such a source of (Idriset al 2010. and Ilozueet al, 2014).
However information on antimicrobial effect of avocado pear peel extract in Enugu
is scanty. Therefore this works aims to determine and evaluate the antimicrobial
activity of avocado pear peel extract in Enugu.
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