Abstract The general objective of this study was to evaluate a comparative study of the antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of the crude and tannic bark extracts of Musanga cecropioides. The plant material was extracted by maceration using three solvents namely, ethanol, hydro-ethanolic and aqueous solvents. The phytochemical profile of the plant extracts was determined to identify the different secondary metabolites present in M. cecropioides. Antimicrobial activity was determined following the micro dilution method in a liquid medium on the reference strains of Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 43300; Klebsiella pneumoniae NR 4119; Shigella flexineri SF 518; Salmonella Enteritidis NR 4311; Escherichia coli ATCC 25922; Salmonella Typhimurium CPC and Salmonella Typhi CPC as described in the Clinical Laboratory Standard Institute guidelines. The antioxidant and cytotoxic activities were evaluated following the modified method of Bassene (2012) and Mosmann (1983). The extraction yield was between 9.56% and 5.4% respectively for the hydro-ethanolic and tannic extracts. The phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of alkaloids, polyphenols, flavonoids, tannins, steroids and terpenes in almost all the extracts irrespective of the extraction solvents. The antimicrobial activity showed that the tannic bark extracts of M. cecropioides were active on almost all the tested bacteria with MICs and MBCs ranging from 12.5 to 6.25 mg/mL. The ethanolic extracts were active against S. aureus ATCC 43300, K. pneumoniae NR41916, and S. Typhimurium while the hydro-etanolic extracts were active on S. aureus ATCC 43300 and K. pneumoniae NR 41916. Similarly, the aqueous extract was active on S. aureus ATCC4330, S. Typhimurium and S. enteritidis NR 4311. All the extracts exhibited antioxidant activity with the tannic extract being the most active. However, the latter was not cytotoxic on normal cells with a selectivity index > 10. These antibacterial and antioxidant properties partly justify the traditional use of M. cecropioides for the treatment of certain pathologies.
Keywords Musanga cecropioides, infectious diseases, antibacterial, antioxidant.