Euadenia eminens
Hook f. (Capparaceae) has traditional uses in the management of conjunctivitis, iritis, ophthalmia,
tuberculosis, otalgia and rectal prolapse. The fruit pulp is also eaten as an aphrodisiac. In this paper, we report on the antiinflammatory,
antioxidant and antibacterial effects of its roots. A 70 % ethanol extract was tested for anti-inflammatory effect
using the carrageenan-induced oedema in chicks. Free radical scavenging, total antioxidant and total phenol content were assessed
spectrophotometrically. The extract was tested for antibacterial activity using the agar well diffusion method and micro dilution
assays. The 70% ethanol extract gave a maximal inhibition of oedema by 74.18 % at 30 mg/kg. The total antioxidant capacity
expressed in terms of ascorbic acid was 0.609 mg/g dry weight. The total phenol in terms of tannic acid was 7.25 mg/g dry
weight. The extract also demonstrated free radical scavenging activity yielding IC
50 value of 1.175 mg/mL. The root extract
however, showed selective antibacterial activity, inhibiting growth of two microorganisms;
Bacillus subtilis
and
Bacillus
thurigiensis
. The MICs were 500 and 1000 μg/mL respectively. These results may account in part for the ethnopharmacological
use of the plant.
