Antibacterial Properties Of Piper Guineense Leaf On Some Selected Pathogenic Organisms

CHAPTER ONE 1.1 INTRODUCTION Plants have provided a source of inspiration for novel drug compounds, as plant derived medicines have made large contributions to human health and wellbeing. Plant extracts have been used for a wide variety of purposes for many thousands of years (Jones, 1996). The antimicrobial activity of plant oils and extracts has formed the basis of many applications, including raw and processed food preservatives, pharmaceuticals, alternative medicine and natural therapies (Reynolds, 1996), (Lis-Balchin and Deans, 1997). The use of traditional medicine is widespread througho…