Comparative Antimicrobial, Phytochemical, Nutritional And Gc-Ms Profiling Of Methanolic Extracts Of Solanum Sect. Melongena

There is need for investigation into the relationship between organic chemical contents and various taxa of plants that exist. This study was conducted to further establish the biological importance of Solanum section Melongena which is beyond consumption. The antimicrobial screening was done by agar well diffusion. Bioactive, proximate and mineral components analyses were done by various spectrometry methods. The result of the antimicrobial screening showed that the plant species inhibited the test bacterial and fungal isolates with Solanum Indicum and Solanum Erianthum having the highest inhibition against Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albicans and Saccharomyces cerevisae. Higher content of alkaloid, saponin, terpenoids and cardiac glycoside and lower quantity of phenol, tannins, flavonoids and phlobatannin were detected in the plants extracts. GC-MS results showed the presence of phytoconstituents which supports the antimicrobial potentials of the plants, especially that of  S. erianthum and S.indicum. The varieties were found to possess nutritional values and mineral contents such as high concentrations of Ca, K and Mg. These results revealed that the plants beyond their nutritional values possess strong antimicrobial properties and health benefits which can be useful in phytopharmaceutical and nutritherapy conditions in humans.