In vitro Evaluation of Antimicrobial Activities of Crude Extracts and Nutritional Potentials of Six Wild Vegetables Commonly Consumed in Ekiti State, Nigeria

Wild vegetables are widely consumed in rural parts of Nigeria and enjoy extensive acceptability especially among the aged. There is a decline in the consumption of these species despite their agronomic, cultural and culinary importance. This study therefore aimed at screening the nutritional, antimicrobial and anti-nutritional qualities of the six wild vegetables using standard chemical and microbiological methods. The hydroalcoholic extracts of the plants were tested against eight bacteria and five fungi. Lonchocarpus cyanescenes, Triplochiton sleroxylon and Sterculia tragacantha were very effective against the test bacteria. Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 4532, Escherichia coli ATCC 8739 and Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC 4532 were most susceptible to the extracts of the wild vegetables. On E. coli ATCC 25922 the combinations of antibiotic with Ceiba pentandra and L. cyanescenes produced a synergistic effects. The minimum fungicidal concentrations of the plant extracts ranged between 0.625 and 20.00 mg/ml. Penicillium chrysogenum was most susceptible to the extracts followed by Candida tropicalis. The proximate analyses of the plants varied among the plants. Out of the six wild vegetable screened Myrianthus aboreus had the highest ash content (11.00 g/100g) followed by C. pentandra (8.50 g/100g). Vitex sp. had the highest amounts of carbohydrate and metabolizable energy. The anti-nutritional (phytate and tannin), minerals, Na/K and Ca/P ratios of the samples were determined and their implications discussed.