Antioxidant and antibacterial activity of bark extracts of the wild elephant tree from the Northern Region of Madagascar: Sclerocarya birrea

Abstract

According to observation and survey of populations, the poultice of the bark of Sclerocarya birrea is used in traditional use as an antivenom and the decoction of the leaves against diarrhea. Several extracts were obtained after maceration by increasing polarity of leaf and bark powders in n-hexane, ethyl acetate, dichloromethane and 80° ethanol. Phytochemical screening of the obtained extracts shows that the leaves contain alkaloids, flavonoids, coumarins and tannins. There are no alkaloids in the bark. The antibiogram test on eight bacterial strains of these extracts revealed that only Streptococus. pneumoniae is sensitive to two bark extracts containing ethyl acetate and hydroethanolic. It has also been proven that these two extracts have a DPPH° radical reducing power whose IC 50 is equal to (0.585±0.004) mg/L and (1.733±0.004) mg/L respectively.