Pharmacognostic Evaluation, Antimicrobial activities and Phytochemical Screening of Selected Medicinal Plants used in Folkloric Medicine for Wound Treatment

Abstract

Plants have been used for thousands of years to treat wounds. Poly herbal formulations (PHF) are efficacious in enhancing therapeutic effectiveness and reducing toxicity of individual plants.    Ocimum canum and Balanites aegyptiaca were combined in ratio of 1:3; and extracted with ethanol. Physicochemical evaluations were carried out on the individual plants and their combination. In addition, the extract of the polyherbal formulation was subjected to qualitative, quantitative phytochemical and antimicrobial analysis. The results obtained from the qualitative phytochemical screenings indicate the presence of tannins, saponin, terpenes, steroids, flavonoids and alkaloids in the extract. Quantitative analysis revealed total flavonoids, phenols, and tannins present in the combined herbal extract are 295.133mg/g, 71.8644mg/g and 29.2375mg/g respectively. The extracts of the combined plants exhibit some significant level of antimicrobial activities. The significant amount of tannins and flavonoids in the PHF extract suggests the antimicrobial properties of the combination and can be an effective remedy for wound infection and healing.