Paper Title
Phytochemical and Antimicrobial Screening of the Crude, Cold & Ethanolic Extracts of the Root, Stem Bark and Leaves of Jatropha Curcas (Physic Nut or Purging Nut)

Abstract
The root, stem bark and leaves of Jatropha curcas which have some traditional medicinal uses was investigated. Phytochemical screening of the root, stem bark and leaves reveals the presence of Alkaloids, Tannins, Saponins, Resins, Anthraquinone, Glycosides, Cardiac Glycosides, Steroids and Carbohydrates. The antimicrobial screening of the cold, crude and ethanolic extracts carried out on the following organisms; Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa showed that the ethanolic extracts of the stem bark had wider range of activity on these organisms than the crude and cold extracts of the plant. The ethanolic extract of the stem bark inhibited the growth of S. aureus, E,coli, Salmonella typhi and P. aeruginosa at concentration of 40% while the crude and cold extracts of the stem bark had Minimum Inhibition Concentration (MIC) of 50% on the organisms. The leaves extracts had a MIC of 60% on the organisms except P. aeruginosa and E. coli which had a MIC of 50%. The crude and cold extracts of the root had a MIC of 70% on S. aureus, E.coli, S.typhi while the ethanolic extract of the root had a MIC of 60% on P. aeruginosa. The MIC was found to be lowest on the stem bark extracts which indicates mat the stem back may contain the highest concentration of active ingredient. Keywords- Phytochemical, Antimicrobial, Minimum Inhibitory concentration.