Abstract

EVALUATION OF ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF COLUMN FRACTIONS OF METHANOLIC SEED EXTRACT OF CASSIA ALATA L. AGAINST SKIN DISEASE CAUSING MICROBES

Parbin Iraqui*

ABSTRACT

Infectious diseases are increasing day by day due various factors such as climate change, population explosion, antibiotic resistance etc. To treat these diseases synthetic drugs have been used. But use of these drugs gives adverse side effects on human body. So, an alternative way of treating these diseases is a much-needed call of this era. Natural or plant-based medicines could be used in place of synthetic drugs as they are cheaper in price and less or no toxic side effects. Skin infections are prevalent in hot humid area like our country because it favours the growth of microbes. Skin infections are generally treated with steroid drugs which has serious side effects on human skin. So herbal medicines can be used to treat skin diseases. In this study Cassia alata-a traditionally used plant against skin infections by the local people of Assam had been selected to evaluate antimicrobial activity of its seed extract and to isolate bioactive column fraction from it. Results showed that seed extract of this plant contain active phytochemicals like phenol, flavonoid, tannin, alkaloid, saponin etc. Out of aqueous, ethanol, methanol and acetone seed extract, methanolic seed extract showed highest antimicrobial activity against tested skin disease microbes, viz, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Escherichia coli, Candida albicans, Microsporum canis and Trichophyton rubrum. Methanolic seed extract gave 17 column fractions, out of which one highly bioactive fraction was achieved, which showed antimicrobial activity against tested microbial strains. These findings showed that this fraction contain bioactive compounds that provide antimicrobial potential to the fraction. Further study would be needed to evaluate its pharmaceutical potential.

Keywords: Cassia alata, Antimicrobial, Phytochemicals, Extract, Fraction, Skin disease, Microbes.