A study of the antimicrobial activity of Alangium salviifolium

MR Pandian¹, GS Banu¹, G Kumar²,  
¹ Centre for Biotechnology, Muthayammal College of Arts and Sciences, Kakkaveri, Rasipuram, Namakkal, Tamilnadu, India
² Department of Biochemistry, Selvam Arts & Science College, Namakkal, Tamilnadu, India

Correspondence Address:
M R Pandian
Centre for Biotechnology, Muthayammal College of Arts and Sciences, Kakkaveri, Rasipuram, Namakkal, Tamilnadu
India

Full Text

A certain interest in medicinal plants has been reborn, even though the emphasis persists in research of synthetic compounds. These substances are potentially toxic and are not free of side effects on the host.[1] This has urged microbiologists all over the world for formulation of new antimicrobial agents and evaluation of the efficacy of natural plant products as the substitute for chemical antimicrobial agents.

Alangium salviifolium Linn (Alangiaceae) is a small deciduous tree or shrub, which grows in the wild throughout the hotter parts of India.[2] The major phytochemical constitutes of the plant are alangine A and B, alangicine, markindine, lamarckinine and emetine.[3] The root of Alangium salviifolium has been used in the Indian system of medicine as an acrid, diuretic, astringent and antidote for several poisons. The fruits (mucosa) of the plant are useful in treating burning sensation and haemorrhages.[4] However, no scientific evidence is available regarding its antimicrobial activity. An investigation of Alangium salviifolium as an antiinfective agent is the objective of our present study.

The root of the plant was collected during May 1993 from Namakkal Dt. A specimen was deposited in the Rapinat Herbarium, St. Joseph's College; Tiruchirapalli. The shadow-dried root was macerated overnight with solvents butanol and ethanol in a 1:5 drug:solvent ratio x 3. Exhaustive extraction with the solvent was carried out by the cold extraction procedure. The respective extracts thus obtained were evaporated to dryness and stored in amber-colored storage vials at 4-5OC until they were used for the experiment.

Ten Gram postive and Gram negative ATCC (American Type Culture Collection) bacterial isolates, were used in the present study.[5] The isolates are: Bacillus cereus (11778), Bacillus pumilus (14884), Bacillus subtilis (6633), Bordetella bronchiseptica (4617), Micrococcus luteus (9341 ), Staphylococcus epidermidis (6538), Escherichia coli (10536), Klebsiella pneumoniae (10031), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (9027) and Enterococcus faecalis (8043). Agar dilution method[6] with working concentration of 1, 2 and 4 mg/ml of butanol and ethanol extracts, were used for the study. Standard antibiotic ciprofloxacin (Cadila Pharmaceuticals, India) at 4 µg/ml concentration, was used as positive control.

Butanol extract of the plant showed growth inhibitory effect at 4 mg/ml concentrations in all the bacterial isolates tested, except Klebsiella pneumonia, where it showed 75% inhibition. Lower concentration of the extract showed concentration-dependent inhibition effect. At 2 mg/ml, 50% inhibition in all the cultures was seen, while at 1 mg/ml, it was completely ineffective, when compared with the positive control (ciprofloxacin) and control (nutrient medium without antibiotic or plant extract). [Table 1] Inhibitory effect of the ethanol extract with all the three concentrations, was not found on any of the cultures used for the experiment, except Micrococcus luteus, where it showed 50% inhibition at 2 mg/ml and complete inhibition at 4 mg/ml of the concentration. [Table 1]

The results of the study confirm the antimicrobial potential of the butanol extract of Alangium salviifolium . However, further detailed studies are required.

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