SEPARATION, PURIFICATION, ISOLATION, IDENTIFICATION AND ANTIMICROBIAL PROPERTIES OF THE ETHANOL FRUIT EXTRACT OF “GORONGO” – SOLANUM MACROCARPUM L.

Solanum macrocarpum Linn. (Solanaceae) is used in East and West African Ethnomedicine for treating constipation, cardiac diseases and hyperlipidaemia. Also the aqueous extract of the fruit had been shown to lower high blood pressure, to treat constipation and lower hyperlipidaemia. The plant was therefore investigated for its chemical constituents and antimicrobial properties. Using accelerated gradient chromatography (AGC), the ethanol extract (CEE) of the unripe fruit was therefore analysed. The microorganisms used included four Gram positive bacteria and four Gram negative bacteria, and three fungal strains; Echerichia coli, Salmonella tyhii, Pseudomonas auriginosa and Kleibsiella pneumonia (Gram negative) Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Cornybacterium spp. and Bacillus subtilis (Gram positive); Candida albicans (a yeast) Penicillum spp and Aspergillus niger (filamentous fungi). All the microorganisms used were resistant to the effect of the CEE. The antimicrobial effect was assayed using the disc diffusion antimicrobial selectivity test. A purified flavonoid with Rf value 0.78 was obtained from the thin layer chromatography (TLC) of the AGC fraction. This flavonoid may contribute to the reported hypolipidaemic effect ascribed to the fruit of the plant.