PHYTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS AND ANTIMICROBIAL POTENTIALS OF AQUEOUS LEAVES EXTRACT OF MORINGA OLEIFERA L AGAINST SELECTED CLINICAL PATHOGENS

This study investigated the phytochemical composition, nutritional, and antimicrobial properties of aqueous leaf extracts of Moringa oleifera using qualitative and quantitative analyses. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of aqueous extracts was conducted and antimicrobial efficacy was tested against selected bacterial and fungal pathogens using agar well diffusion and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) assays. Results revealed the presence of diverse bioactive compounds: alkaloids (1.0 % w/w), flavonoids (80.10 mg QE/g), saponnins (6.20 %w/w), phenolics (110.8 mg GAE/g), steroids (0.7 mg CE/g), glycosides (5.8 mg GE/g), and terpenoids (4.3 % w/w) with significant inhibitory effects on fungi: Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus tamari, Botryodiplodia theobromae, Penicillium marneffei, Myrothecium verrucaria, Rhizopus nigrican, Rhizopus stolenifera, Fuussarium oxysporum, Fussarium solani , Candida albicans and bacteria: Klebsiella oxytoca, Serrtia marcescens, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Erwinia carotovora, Staphylococcus aureus, and Klebsiella pneumoniae. The high inhibitory effects of the extract, ranging from 52.24 ± 0.01 mm (Erwinia carotovora) at 100 mg/mL to 4.87 ± 0.02 mm (Aspergillus niger) at 25 mg/mL correlates with its high phenolic and flavonoid content. The MIC ranged from 6.25 mg/mL (A. niger, A. flavus, A. tamari, B. theobromae, and P. marneffei) to 3.13 mg/mL (other isolates). These findings suggest that M. oleifera possesses promising natural antimicrobial agents that could serve as alternatives to synthetic drugs