CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION
Historically, plants have provided a source of inspiration for novel drug
compounds, as plant derived medicines have made large contributions to human
health and well being. Their role is twofold in the development of new drugs: (1)
they may become the base for the development of a medicine, a natural blue print
for the development of new drugs or; (2) a phytomedicine to be used for the
treatment of diseases (Iwu, 1993). Traditional medicine using plant extracts
continues to provide health coverage for over 80% of the worlds population,
especially in the developing world (WHO, 2002). India possesses a variety of
medicinal plants and it is one of the richest countries in the world in regard to
genetic resources of medicinal plants. India exhibits a wide range in topography
and climate, which bears varietal emporium of vegetation and floristic
composition. Moreover, the agro-climatic conditions are favorable for introduction
and domestication of new exotic plant varieties (Martins et al., 2001). Since time
immemorial, man has used various parts of plants in the treatment and prevention
of various ailments (Tanaka et al., 2002).
Jatropha curcas variously known as physic nut, purging nut or pig nut
[Uche and Aprioku, 2008; Igbinosa et al., 2009] and is used in folklore remedies
for treatment of various ailments such as skin infections, gonorrhea, jaundice and
fever (Akinpelu et al., 2009) . The plant is planted as a hedge (living fence) by
farmers all over the world, because it is not browsed by animals. Jatropha curcas
is a deciduous perennial shrub having originated from Central America, is now
widely cultivated in tropics and subtropics worldwide (Deore and Johnson, 2008).
It has been considered as a strategic plant resource in many countries (Carvalho et
al., 2009). Jatropha curcas is a multipurpose (both medicinal and
biotechnologically important) plant and drought resistant large shrub which is now
widely cultivated in Africa and Asia for the production of biodiesel (Kumar et al.,
2004; Jimu et al., 2009). The content of active principles of medicinal plants may
vary according to nature of soil and climate (Kriker et al., 2013).
Plants ethnopharmacological applications are well known, but much of the
information is empirical and lacking in scientific validation. The desire to
scientifically validate the medicinal properties of these plants has resulted in the
investigation of their various biological activities. The objective of this research is
to evaluate the potential of aqueous and methanol extracts of jepheta leaf on
standard microorganism strains which were isolated from food samples.

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