Abstract:
This study was conducted to assess the antistaphylococcal and antioxidant properties of Jatropha species ( J. curcas and J. gossypifolia). A total of 358 microbial isolates from clinical samples (post-operative wound, urine, skin and blood) were obtained from various hospitals. One hundred and twenty three (123) clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus were obtained from University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan and Typed culture Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 was obtained from Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), Lagos. The ethanolic extraction of the plant materials i.e leaf and stem bark was carried out using MIstandard method. The antibacterial, synergistic activities and Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of the plant extracts were assessed using agar well diffusion method against Staphylococcus species. The bacterial count of clinical samples ranged from post-operative wound sample (5.87 × 101 to 8.44 × 101cfu), skin sample (1.30 × 102 to 1.2 × 102 cfu ), urine sample (2.31 × 102 to 4.30 × 101 cfu/ml), blood sample (1.20 × 101 to 9.42 × 101 cfu) and nasal sample (3.40 × 101 to 5.63 × 101 cfu) . Staphylococcus spp from all sample sources were highly resistant to amoxicillin and ceftriazone. Jatropha gossypifolia stem bark and Jatropha curcas leaf ethanol extracts showed higher inhibitory effect against the Staphylococcus spp than the other two extracts However, Staphylococcus spp from all the samples sources were not sensitive to J. curcas stem bark ethanol extract. The synergistic action of J. curcas (leaf extract) and J. gossypifolia leaf extract showed higher inhibitory action against the Staphylococcus spp across the sample sources with zone of inhibition ranging from 15.04 to 19.83 (mm) than the synergistic action of J. gossypifolia and J. curcas stem bark with zone of inhibition ranging from 13.83 to 18.25(mm) across the sample sources. There was significant difference (P ≤ 0.05) in the MIC of the extracts across the sample sources . Each of the antioxidant assay showed concentration dependent activities exhibited by J.
curcas stem bark ethanol extract, J. curcas leaf ethanol extract, J. gossypifolia stem bark having highest percentage (%) ferrous ion chelating ability, total phenolic content and % hydroxyl ion radical scavenging activity with values of 73%, 2.2mg/GAE and 80.8% respectively. The findings of this study implies that the plant extracts are rich in antistaphylococcal and antioxidant compounds that could be exploited by pharmaceutical companies
