Phytochemical Screening and Antimicrobial Potency of Corn Silk (Zea mays stigma) from Corn Planted in Abakaliki Metropolis of Ebonyi State, Nigeria.

Corn silk is the long, thread-like strands of plants material that grow underneath the husk of a fresh ear of corn. It is a shiny, thin fibers that aid the pollination and growth of corn that are used in traditional herbal medicine practices. This research was aimed at exploring the phytochemicals present in corn silk (Zea mays stigma) obtained from Abakaliki in Ebonyi State of Nigeria, in addition to the antimicrobial activity of these compounds. Corn silk was collected from seven corn farm fields dried and ground into powder. The powdered corn silk was extracted with organic solvents and the crude extract subjected to phytochemical analyses. The result obtained revealed the presence of the following bioactive compounds flavonoids, saponins, phenols, terpenoids, glycosides, and tannins. THE quantitative analysis of the dried ground sample revealed the concentration of the following bioactive components: alkaloids 0.27%, flavonoids 1.2%, saponins 2.0%, tannins 77.048mg/g, phenols 34.673mg/g and glycosideS 189.44mg/100g. The crude ethanolic extract showed antimicrobial potency against five microorganisms via E. Coli, Staphylococus species, Klebisiella species, Salmonella species and Pseudonomas species at different concentrations with inhibitory zone diameter ranging between 5mm and 16mm. Gentamycin was used as a standard antibiotic and the results obtained significantly revealed the potential effect of corn silk against the pathogens examined. Keywords: Antimicrobial, corn silk, phytochemicals screening, qualitative, quantitative.