~ 243 ~ Journal of Medicinal Plants Studies 2018; 6(2): 243-246 ISSN (E): 2320-3862 ISSN (P): 2394-0530 NAAS Rating: 3.53 JMPS 2018; 6(2): 243-246 © 2018 JMPS Received: 10-01-2018 Accepted: 14-02-2018 Gebrekidan Welegerima Department of Biotechnology, College of Natural and Computational Sciences, Adigrat University, P. O. Box 50, Adigrat, Tigray, Ethiopia Aragaw Zemene Department of Biotechnology, College of Natural and Computational Sciences, Adigrat University, P. O. Box 50, Adigrat, Tigray, Ethiopia Yemane Tilahun Department of Biology, College of Natural and Computational Sciences, Adigrat University, P. O. Box 50, Adigrat, Tigray, Ethiopia Correspondence Gebrekidan Welegerima Department of Biotechnology, College of Natural and Computational Sciences, Adigrat University, P. O. Box 50, Adigrat, Tigray, Ethiopia Phytochemical composition and antibacterial activity of Opuntia Ficus Indica cladodes extracts Gebrekidan Welegerima, Aragaw Zemene and Yemane Tilahun Abstract Nowadays, plants with strong antimicrobial agents are becoming important alternatives to treat several infectious diseases. The aim of this study was to determine the phytochemical composition and antibacterial activity of Opuntia ficus indica cladodes extracts against some selected bacterial isolates. Qualitative analysis of phytochemicals in the extracts was done using methanol, ethanol and chloroform solvents. Antibacterial activity of the extracts against bacteria isolates Escherichia coli (ATCC2592), Staphylococcus pneumonia (ATCC63), Salmonella typhi (B2836) and Bacillus subtilis (S456) were evaluated using agar well diffusion method. The extracts showed the presence of phenolic substances, tannins, glycosides, alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, steroids, alkaloids and amino acids. The highest inhibition zone recorded was by methanol extract against S. pneumonia (ATCC63) (10.29±0.96) followed by chloroform extract against B.subtilis (10.23±0.66). This finding indicated that Opuntia ficus indica cladodes have great antibacterial effects against bacteria isolates and needs further investigations to unveil their antimicrobial potential against other multidrug resistant microbial species. Keywords: Opuntia ficus indica, cladodes, phytochemicals, antibacterial activity 1. Introduction Nowadays, medicinal plants with strong antimicrobial action are becoming important antimicrobial agents for treatment of several human diseases. This antimicrobial importance of medicinal plants stems from the fact that green medicine is easily accessible, safe and with less side effects [1, 3] . Opuntia ficus indica is one among the medicinal plants that has been used in traditional folk medicine because of its role in treating a number of diseases and conditions, including antimicrobial, antioxidant actions and anti-inflammatory effects [5] . Opuntia ficus indica belongs to the Cactaceae family and grows in arid and semiarid regions of the world [7] . The plant has different parts and the major ones include cladodes, stem, vegetative part, flower and fruit. Studies demonstrate that the various parts of the cactus plant have interesting biological constituents and activities [9, 12, 14] . Recently, many bacterial pathogens are becoming resistant to the currently used antibiotics due to their indiscriminant use in treatment of infectious diseases and favor of the antibiotics for the survival and spread of pathogens [11] . Hence, there is an urgent interest to discover new and strong antimicrobial agents from plants. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to determine the phytochemical composition and antibacterial activity of Opuntia ficus indica cladodes extracts against some selected bacterial pathogens. 2. Materials and Methods 2.1. Plant Material Collection Fresh samples of cactus cladodes (Opuntia ficus-indica) were collected from Adigrat district, Eastern zone of Tigrai Region, Northern Ethiopia (14°16"34' N latitude and 39°27 "52' E longitude). The collected samples were washed thoroughly with tap water and rinsed with distilled water. The cleaned samples were cut into small pieces and dehydrated at 60 0 C for two days. Dried samples were grinded in a domestic grinder and the powders were sieved at 1 mm. The fine powders obtained were stored in dark plastic bags at room temperature till used for further studies. 2.2. Culture Media and Chemicals Dehydrated media, standard antimicrobial drugs (disc), and chemicals from Hi-media laboratories were used for culturing of the test bacteria.