PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING AND POTENTIAL ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF TAGESTES MINUTA L. LEAVES

Tagetes minuta is an important species in the traditional medicine due to its essential oil from leaves. In this study we report on the qualitative and quantitative phytochemical analyses of leaves extract using organic solvents. Qualitative analysis indicated the presence of alkaloids, sterols, saponins, terpenoids, phenols, and lipids in the leaves extract. Gas-chromatography mass-spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis revealed constituents with the highest percentage were 9-octadecen-1-ol ( 4.51%), beta-sitosterol (6.07%), olean-12-en-3-one (7.47%), and 3-methyl-1-butanol (14.77%). Leaves extract showed inhibitory activity against selected gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria (P. aeruginosa, E. coli, S. aureus, MRSA, and B. subtilis). This study confirmed that the leaves of T. minuta contain bioactive compounds with pharmacological and biological properties that can be further explored.