Cassia nigricans have Potential against Pathogenic Microorganisms

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Cassia genus is a herbal plant which belongs to the Leguminosae family and commonly used to treat ulcers, gastro-intestinal disorders and skin diseases (Nwafor and Okwuasaba, 2001; Jacob et al., 2002). It is also a rich source of polyphenols, polysaccharides, flavonoids and steroids and anthracene derivatives (Nageswara Rao et al., 2000; Bahorun et al., 2005). It is commonly used in folk medicine and have therapeutic value for skin diseases like ringworm, scabies and eczema (Elujoba et al., 1999). It has also exhibited anti-inflamatory, anti-plasmodial and good analgesic activities (Chidume et al., 2001; Yang et al., 2003). C. nigricans Vahl leaves have 10-18 pairs of oblong leaflets, while each leaflet is about 15-26 mm long and 5-6 mm broad (Dalziel, 1948; Irvine, 1961). Antimicrobial activities of the leaves of the C. nigricans Vahl has also been observed. Another important use of this plant is the management of agricultural pests (Georges et al., 2008). Some important therapeutic elements like citreorosein, emodic acid and luteolin have also been identified in the previous researches (Georges et al., 2008).

A study has been conducted to validate the claims that C. nigricans is used in traditional medicine for the treatment of skin diseases, infections and wounds. It was published in the Research Journal of Medicinal Plant 3 (2): 69-74, 2009. Study also covered the effect of methanol extract against some common pathogenic microorganism. During the research steroidal ester was isolated from the methanol extract and treated against Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Corynebacterium pyogenes, Bacillus subtilis, Salmonella typhi, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida albicans, Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Klebsiella pneumonia using agar diffusion technique. It has been observed that ester was active against all the above mentioned pathogenic microorganisms. So, it has been concluded that C. nigricans have potential to over come the infections caused by microorganism (Canigueral et al., 2008).