1.1 Introduction
Lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus), is a member of poaceae family. Lemongrass is a tropical perennial plant which yields aromatic oil. The name lemongrass is derived from the typical lemon-like odour of the essential oil present in the shoot. The herb originated in Asia and Australia (Joy, 2006). It is a medicinal plant with compounds capable of controlling pathogens and increasing herbal resistance to pathogenic diseases. This aromatic plant is used in perfume production and is grown to produce essential oils for business purposes. Due to its good aroma, it is used for preparation of the colognes, deodorants and soaps in different pharmaceutical industry. Its major components are citral monoterpenes (an isomeric mixture of the geranial and neral) and myrcene both of which have anti-bacterial and medicinal importance (Car, 2011).
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.
1.2 Background of Study
Lemongrass, Cymbopogon citratus is one of the important leaves among the species of grasses, and has various applications in traditional medicine. The grass is used in food or as culinary used i.e. it is eatable and also it can be used as cosmetic cream and even as herb. The linear leaves can grow up to 90 cm in height and 5m in width (Ernst et al., 2008). Plants are very important sources of drugs used for centuries in the treatment of various microbial infections. Most of the plant-based drugs when used correctly, pose less or no toxic effect to the recipients compared to the chemically synthetic drugs. This necessitates the use of natural plants in the complementary medicine in order to showcase the long term adverse effects of some synthetic drugs.
Herbal drugs have increasingly been used worldwide during the last few decades as evidenced by rapidly growing global and national markets of herbal drugs. According to World Health Organization (WHO, 2003) estimates, the demand for medicinal plants is about US $14 billion a year and by the year 2050 it would be about a trillion US dollars. Now people rely more on herbal drugs because of high price and harmful side effects of synthetic drugs, and this trend is growing not only in developing countries but in developed countries too (Tor-anyiin et al., 2003). A number of plants have been indicated to possess antimicrobial properties from traditional uses (NCCLS, 1995).
Medicinal plants have therefore been described as one in which one or more of its organs contain substance that can be used for therapeutic purposes (Rios et ak., 2005). It has been estimated that about one in four of all prescribed drugs, and almost 7,000 different medicaments contain compounds of plants origin or their derivatives with their commercial value being put at about $40 billion annually (Carter et al., 2000).
Lemon Grass (Cymbopogon citratus) and lemon (Citrus limon) can be used in treating HIV complications, especially secondary bacterial infections. Researchers from the Adelaide Tambo school of Nursing Science, Tshwan University of technology, Pretoria – West, South Africa have validated the use of lemongrass in treating thrush in people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV/Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). They concluded that though the patients’ population was small, the use of lemongrass for the treatment of oral candidiasis in an HIV population was validated by the randomized controlled trial (Ahmad et al., 2001).
Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Phytochemical Screening and Antimicrobial Activity of Lemon Grass (Isolates) against some Bacterial.
1.3 Statement of Problems
Lemongrass extract usage in folk medicine for the treatment of certain ailment was disputed, but recent findings have confirmed its efficacy (Adejuwon and Esther, 2007; Celso et al., 2011a). Despite this, lemongrass tea and its essential oils is becoming unpopular especially among developing nations. This might be due to lack of awareness of published results on the efficacy of the extracts on several health related issues. Hence, the focus of this review is to concisely document all reported biological properties of lemongrass extracts (infusion and decoction) and essential oils. Similarly, suggestions regarding future directions in this area of study were thoroughly prepared to ease the path towards elucidation of inherent medicinal properties of lemongrass.
1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study
The aim of the study is to explore the Phytochemical Screening and Antimicrobial Activity of Lemon Grass (Isolates) against some Bacterial. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:
- To assess the physico-chemical properties and antibacterial activity was evaluated to determine the Lemon Grass Isolates against some Bacterial.
- To qualitatively analyze the phytochemistry of lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus),
- To identify the medicinal properties of lemon grass
- To determine the antimicrobial effect of the leaf extracts on some selected clinical bacterial isolates, with view to determine the alternative therapy (using non synthetic drugs) against diseases caused by the test organisms.
1.5 Significance of Study
This study will be of immense benefit to researchers who intend to know more on this study and can also be used by non-researchers to build more on their research work. This study contributes to knowledge and could serve as a guide for other study.
1.6 Scope of Study
The study focuses on the Phytochemical Screening and Antimicrobial Activity of Lemon Grass (Isolates) against some Bacterial.
1.7 Limitations of the Study
During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:
- Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
- Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
- Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
- Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
