ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITIES OF HERBAL AFRICAN PLANTS IN THE TREATMENT OF HIV/AIDS

There has been worldwide move towards the use of traditional medicines. This present study is aimed to investigate phytochemical, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of Milicia excels, Cassia siamea and Ficus carica plants used by traditional healers in Ghana. Growth inhibition was observed for extracts from Milicia excels, Cassia siamea and Ficus carica, with IC50 values ranging between 0.0188 and 0.4963 μg/ml. The methanol extracts of Milicia excels, Cassia siamea and Ficus carica also showed noticeable antiproliferative potency with IC50 values < 50 μg/ml. The plant extracts were more active against Gram-negative than Gram-positive bacteria. The greatest antimicrobial activity was exhibited by extracts from Milicia excelsa with inhibition zones > 15 mm and MIC values ≤ 0.069 μg/ml. In addition, the ethanolic extracts of Milicia excel and Cassia siamea showed good antioxidant potential at low concentrations (more than 80% at 1.5 and 0.3 μg/ml, respectively). The phytochemical analysis of ethanolic extracts revealed the presence of significant secondary metabolites. It can be concluded that Milicia excels and Cassia siamea extracts can be used as a potent source of natural antioxidant and thus could prevent many free radical mediated diseases.