Phytochemical Screening, Antibacterial Effect, and Essential Oil Extract from the Leaf of <i>Artemisia afra</i> against on Selected Pathogens

Abstract

Background: Artemisia afra is an indigenous plant used in Africa. It is used in traditional medicine to treat a variety of diseases caused by bacterial infections. As a result, developing innovative therapeutic methods using natural ingredients to combat pathogenic germs is critical. Methodology: Artemisia afra leaves were extracted using maceration extraction utilizing three solvents (petroleum ether, ethanol, and dichloromethane). Fresh leaves were extracted using hydrodistillation. The agar well diffusion method was used to test the crude extract and essential oil leaves of Artemisia afra against different human pathogenic bacteria strains ( E. coli , S. aureus , E. faecalis , and K. pneumonia ) at different concentrations in the presence of a positive (ciprofloxacin 5.0 μg) and negative (DMSO) control. Results: Artemisia afra revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, saponins, anthraquinones, terpenoids, coumarins, phenolic quinones, cardiac glycosides, and steroids. It showed that the highest antibacterial activity given by the ethanol extract had highly inhibition zones against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. The essential oil extract was effective against all tested bacteria. Conclusion: Plant crude extracts and essential oils may have antibacterial properties due to the synergistic activity of two or more active secondary metabolites.