Phytochemical and in vitro biological investigations of methanolic extracts of Enhydra fluctuans Lour

Objective:To study the phytochemical and biological properties(antioxidant,anthelmintic and thrombolytic)of methanolic extracts of Enhydra fluctuant Lour.,a plant belonging to the Asteraceae family.Methods:The phytochemical evaluation was carried out by qualitative analysis.In vitro antioxidant activity of extract was studied using free radical scavenging assay,ability of reduction,total phenol and total flavonoid contents determination assays.The anthelmintic activity was determined using paralysis and death time of Pheretima posthuma(earthworm)and thrombolytic activity by clot disruption assay.Results:The phytochemical evaluation showed significant presence of flavonoids,triterpenes,carbohydrate,reducing sugars,saponins,phenols,diterpenes,protein and tannin.The antioxidant activity was found significant[IC_(50)(135.20±036)μg/mL]as compared to ascorbic acid[(130.00±0.76)μg/mL].The reducing power was increased with concentration.Total phenol and total flavonoid contents were(153.08±0.38)mg/mL and(172.04±0.56)mg/mL respectively.The paralysis and death time of earthworms for different concentrations of extract were determined and compared with albendazole.The results showed that 10 mg/mL of the crude extract had similar effect with albendazole.Additionally,the crude extract showed a concentration depended relationship with its anthelmintic property.The clot lysis activity of crude extract was compared to the standard streptokinase's clot lysis(40.13%)activity and found significant(31%).Conclusions:The study proves that the crude methanolic extract of Enhydra fluctuant Lour,has significant antioxidant,anthelmintic and thrombolytic activity containing wide range of phytochemicals.

Susceptibility of microorganism to selected medicinal plants in Bangladesh

Objective:To analyze in-vitro antimicrobial activities of some ethno-pharmacologically significant medicinal plants(methanol extract) against the pathogenic microorganisms(Escherichia coli,Salmonella spp..Bacillus cereus.Staphylococcus aureus.Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans).Methods:The disc diffusion method was applied for antibacterial test and the poisoned food technique was applied for antifungal test.Results:The methanol extract of Terminalia chebula(bark),Fhyllanthus acidus(fruits).Sarcochlamys pulcherrima(leaves) and Abelmoschus esculcntus(fruits) had significant in vitro antibacterial activity angainst the entire test samples in comparison to standard drug ciprofloxacin.Most of the plant extracts showed low activity against Gram negative bacteria while potential activity against Gram positive bacteria.The antifungal activities of methanol extracts of these plants and standard drug griseofulvin were determined against two pathogenicfungi,and Polygonum Iapathifolium(leaves) and Cinnamomum tamala(leaves) showed maximum activity,while Erioglossum rubiginosum(leaves) showed no antifungal activity.Conclusions:Further chemical and pharmacological investigations are required to identify and isolate chemical constituents responsible for these potential bioactivities and thus to determine their full spectrum of efficacy.