QUALITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF THE ANTIMICROBIAL, ANTIOXIDANT, PHYTOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF THE ETHANOLIC EXTRACTS OF THE ROOTS OF COCOS NUCIFERA L.

The roots of Cocos nucifera L. have been used in folk medicine to treat several health problems including infections, inflammations, hypertension, wound healing, and others. This study was therefore conducted to evaluate their biological properties, whether they have antimicrobial and antioxidant activities and whether these are reflected in the presence of antimicrobial and antioxidant phytochemicals in the extract. Antimicrobial properties using the agar well-diffusion method showed inhibition against bacterial organisms Klebsiella pneumoniae, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, and Candida albicans but no growth inhibition was found in the fungus Aspergillus niger. The antioxidant activity evaluated by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate (DPPH) photometric assay and compared with Vitamin C showed that the half maximal inhibitory concentration of the root extract was 24.25 ppm, 14x lower in inhibitory efficiency than the standard Vitamin C. Phytochemicals present in the extract showed the presence of tannins, saponins, alkaloids, steroids, glycosides, and flavonoids which are known antioxidants. Qualitative assessment of the presence of compounds in the extract using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry identified twenty-one (21) possible bioactive compounds. Of these, eight (8) were found to be known antimicrobials while seven (7) compounds were found to be known antioxidants. This study has shown support to the ethnomedicinal use of the root of C. nucifera as an antimicrobial and antioxidant.