Abstract

PRELIMINARY PHYTOCHEMICAL STUDIES AND ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF THE LEAF EXTRACTS OF RHODODENDRON NILAGIRICUM

Dr. C. Sowmia* and Tamilvani

ABSTRACT

Medicinal plants have bioactive compounds which are used for curing of various human diseases and also play an important role in healing. The present study involves the leaves of Rhododendron nilagiricum which were collected from in and around Nilgiri district, Tamilnadu. The leaves of the selected medicinal plant was washed, air dried and then powdered. The Methanolic and Acetone extract of leaf sample was used for the phytochemical analysis to find out the phytochemical constituents in the plant. The main objective of the research work was to check the presence or absence of the phytochemical constituents in the selected medicinal plant and screen for the Antibacterial activity. The results of the phytochemical analysis of this medicinal plant showed the presence of phenols, saponins and tannins. The methanol and acetone extracts of the medicinal plant was evaluated for activity against medically important bacteria such as streptococcus sp . and Escherichia coli. The in vitro antimicrobial activity was performed by agar well diffusion method and disc diffusion method. The acetone extracts showed minimum antimicrobial activity when compared to methanolic extracts. The methanolic leaf extract of Rhododendron nilagiricum showed the maximum activity against Steptococcus sp. The use of plant extracts with known antimicrobial properties, can be of great significance in therapeutic treatments. The phytochemical analysis of the plants is very important commercially and has great interest in pharmaceutical companies for the production of the new drugs for curing of various diseases. It is expected that the important phytochemical properties recognized by our study in the medicinal plant of Rhododendron nilagiricum will be very useful in the curing of various diseases.

Keywords: Rhododendron nilagiricum, Phenols, saponins, tannins, antibacterial activity, Streptococcus sp. and Escherichia coli.