Cola Acuminata Nut Show Indication of Arrhythmia Management: Laboratory Examination of Extracts of Raw Versus Heat Processed Nuts

Chewing of nuts of Cola acuminata is a cultural practice in any African countries especially Ghana and Nigeria. The current study investigated antibacterial activity and phytochemical composition of methanol and ethanol Soxhlet extracts of raw, steamed and roasted cola nut on Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus using the agar well diffusion method. Amoxillin and distilled water were used as controls. The ranges of mean zones of inhibition of the methanol and ethanol extracts of raw cola nut at 200mg/ml tested against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were 10.00±0.00 to 15.00±0.00 and 10.50±1.50 to 12.00±0.00 respectively. The ranges of the mean zones of inhibition of the methanol and ethanol extracts of steamed cola nut at 200mg/ml tested against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were 8.00±0.00 to 7.00±0.00 and 7.50±0.50 to 8.50±0.50 respectively. Those of the methanol and ethanol extracts against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus were 6.00±0.00 to 7.00±0.00 and 5.00±0.00 to 6.00±1.00 respectively. Raw cola nut was found to be most effective against the two microbes. However, Amoxicillin at concentration 200mg/ml presented the highest mean zones of inhibition against Staphylococcus aureus (36.00±0.00) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (29.00±0.00), while distilled water had no inhibitory on the two microbes. Extract concentrations from 120–30 mg/ml had similar trends of inhibition with the 200mg/ml concentration. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of saponins, terpenoids, alkaloids, tannins, flavonoids and phenols in both methanol and ethanol extracts of the raw, steamed and roasted cola nut.