Abstract

PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF EXTRACTS OF ACTINODAPHNE MALABARICA BALAKR AGAINST SELECTED MICROBES

A. Renjith Alex*, Akhil Vinod1, Aneesha Santhosh and Nicy Johnson

ABSTRACT

The phytochemical investigation was carried out on the crude petroleum ether, chloroform, methanol and water extracts of the leaf of Actinodaphne malabarica (Lauraceae). The antimicrobial activity of the extract was tested against chemical isolates of some bacteria using the well diffusion method. The preliminary phytochemical studies revealed the presence of alkaloids, tannins, saponins, phenolic compounds, steroids and triterpenoids, phytosterols, gums and mucilage, flavonoids, glycosides, carbohydrates, cardiac glycosides, fixed fats and oils, proteins and amino acids as chemical class present in the extracts. The extracts showed inhibitory activity against clinical isolates of the gram-positive bacteria such as Salmonella typhi, Klebsiella pneumonia, Staphylococcus aureus, gram negative bacteria is Escherichia coli and Candida albicans. The results showed that the methanol extract was more potent than the petroleum ether, chloroform and water extracts.

Keywords: Actinodaphne malabarica, antimicrobial activity, phytochemical screening.