Phytochemical Screening and Antimicrobial Activity of Three Medicinal Plants against Urinary Tract Infection Pathogens

Urinary tract infections are a global health issue. Although antibiotics exist, most people for fear of stigmatization often prefer medicinal treatments. Three plants Acanthus montanus, Aspilia africana and Desmodium velutinum were investigated for their antimicrobial activity against human urinary tract infection pathogens and also screened for phytochemicals. The phytochemical screening and quantification, characterisation of isolates, antimicrobial screening and minimum inhibitory concentration were all done using standard techniques. Replicate readings were then subjected to analysis of variance. The results of the phytochemical screening and quantification of the plants showed the presence alkaloids (2.40 – 3.12%), glycosides (3.50 – 4.20%), saponins (3.02 -- 6.27%), tannins (0.17 – 0.47%), flavonoids (9.22 – 11.42%), polyphenol (9.72 – 9.90%) and reducing compounds (7.40- 9.18 mg %) in studied plants. Analysis of the replicate readings showed significance (p < 0.05). The results of the microbial characterization showed that isolates were Esherichia coli, Staphylococcus species and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The antimicrobial sensitivity assay showed that the isolates responded differently to the test plants extracts. Staphylococcus species and E. coli were more sensitive to the test extracts than P. aeruginosa. The least inhibition was 11.50 mm while the highest was 14.00 mm. Consistently, all the studied plants showed very good inhibition at a minimum inhibitory concentration of 200 mg. The findings in this study confirms their use in the treatment of urinary tract pathogen and the need for further studies aimed at determining the bioactive compounds in these plants.