In Cameroon, like elsewhere, medicinal plants are successfully used to treat gastro-intestinal diseases. Entada africana is a medicinal plant which different parts are used to treat stomach pain, diarrhea, dysentery and many other diseases. In order to show the efficiency of this plant in the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders, its antibacterial, antiulcerogenic and antioxidant activities were evaluated at Department of Microbiology (Laboratory of Microbiology) and Department of Animal Biology & Physiology (Animal Physiology Laboratory); Faculty of Science, University of Yaoundé I, between Febuary 2015 and July 2016. Crude extract of E. africana was obtained using methylene chloride/methanol mixture and fractions by successive exhaustion in hexane, methylene chloride and ethyl acetate. Phytochemical analysis of secondary metabolites was done using colorimetric tests. The antibacterial study consisted to determine Inhibition Diameters (ID) by agar diffusion as well as the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) using the tube macro dilution method against E. coli, S. typhi, P. aeruginosa, K. pneumonia, S. aureus and B. cereus. The anti-ulcerogenic and antioxidant properties of the methylene chloride/methanol crude extract was evaluated using indomethacin-induced ulcer in rats and levels of reduced glutathione (GSH) and malondialdehyde (MDA) in the stomach homogenate were measured. The phytochemical study revealed the presence of phenolics compounds. The Methylene chloride/methanol, hexane, methylene chloride and ethyl acetate extracts were active on the tested microorganisms with the following results respectively for ID and MIC: 8.50 mm ± 0.50 ≤ DI ≤ 18.00 mm ± 1.00 and 1.56 mg/mL ≤ MIC ≤ 6.25 mg/mL. The anti-ulcerogenic test showed that the methylene chloride/methanol extract exhibited a cytoprotective effect with ulcer indices varying from 1.98 ± 0.24 to 1.36 ± 0.14 when the rats were pretreated at 200 and 400 mg/kg, respectively. Tissue levels of MDA reduced (23.04 %) while those of GSH increased (14.29%) following treatment with extract. The antibacterial, anti-ulcerogenic and antioxidant activities exerted by these plant extracts could be due to the presence of phenolic compounds. These properties would make this plant an "all-in-one" medicine, which justify its use in treatment of gastrointestinal disorders.

Keywords: Gastrointestinal Disorders; Antibacterial Activity; Anti-Ulcerogenic Activity; Antioxidant Activity; Phenolic Compounds; Entada africana;