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ABSTRACT
Medicinal plants play a great role in human life and have substances that are used for traditional therapeutic and modern drug production purposes in primary health care delivery. Costus lucanuscianus or Costus afer, commonly known as "Monkey sugar cane" in the vernacular, is a plant species indigenous to the tropical regions of Nigeria, majorly the Niger Delta region. Costus afer as a medicinal plant is commonly used for traditional therapeutic and other socio cultural purposes such as wrapping of indigenous food items, mat making, feed to small ruminants treatment of cough, measles, malaria, eye defects, hunch back and evil repellents. Despite its widespread traditional use for medicinal purposes, scientific investigations on the physiochemical and antimicrobial properties of Costus lucanuscianus are limited. This research project aimed to explore the phytochemical composition, and antimicrobial potential of Costus lucanuscianus. The findings of this study provides valuable insights into the therapeutic potential and possible applications of this plant species in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries. This study accessed the phytochemical and the antibacterial activities of ethanolic and aqueous extracts of Costus lucanuscianus , its stem was investigated on some pathogenic organisms namely; Escherichia coli, Klebsiella spp, using the disc diffusion method as well as the Agar well method. The major constituent of C. afer for modern drug production are steroidal sapogenins, saponins aferosides A.C and dioscin. Sugar cane samples were collected from Ogiri, Delta state and transported to Benin where they were brought to the laboratory for phytochemical and bacteriological assessment following standard procedures. This study reveals that monkey sugar cane although having multiple pharmaceutical and ethnomedicinal uses cannot function in the treatment of disease 9 conditions caused by Escherichia coli or Klebsiella at concentrations of 80mg/ml, 40mg/ml, 20mg/ml, 10mg/ml. Therefore more research can be carried out on other enteric organisms testing their susceptibility and other functions or uses of monkey sugar cane based on the analysis of its extracts especially in regards.
