Adetutu, Adewale, Olorunnisola, O. Sinbad and Oyewo, E. Bukoye
Keywords: West Africa, vegetables, antioxidant properties, antibacterial activity, phytochemicals.
Abstract: Green leafy vegetables have been reported as sources of nutrients and folklore remedy for the treatment of infections in West Africa. The present study was designed to investigate the antioxidant, antibacterial and phytochemical components of the methanol extracts from five selected green leafy vegetables (Telfaria occidentalis, Amaranthus viridis, Amaranthus hybridus, Lactuca taraxicofolia and Solanium aethiopium). The in vitro antioxidant activities of the extracts were measured using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity and the antibacterial activities were evaluated using the well agar diffusion assay. The antioxidant activity of the methanolic extracts of the selected vegetables revealed that the EC50 ranged from 1.8 to 9.0?g/ml. The EC50 values for free radical scavenging activity of T. Occidentalis, L. taraxicofolia and A. viridis extracts were significantly superior over the standard, gallic acid. The extracts also exhibited inhibitory effects against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus cereus, Enterobacter cloacae, Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus at the concentration of 100?g/ml. The present study scientifically validated the traditional use of the vegetables as possible therapeutic agents.
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