Phytochemical Biochemical and Antioxidant Properties of Selected Medicinal Plants of Assam

Abstract

ABSTRACT newlineNorth East India is a mega biodiversity hotspot and rich in medicinal plants. The traditional healers of this region has been using various plant materials to treat different diseases and such knowledge are passed from generation to generation. Many of these plants has been scientifically explored and widely researched. However, there is still a large of number of species, the traditional knowledge on which is not fully explored. Four indigenous understudied plants namely Centella asiatica (L)Urb. Ipomoea aquatica Forssk , Vitex negundo L. and Oldenlandia corymbosa L. were selected in this study. The study aimed to detect the presence of various phytochemicals in these plants and to determine anti-microbial and anti-oxidant activities in the plant extracts. Also an attempt was made to document the presence of active compounds in the studied samples. newlineThe plant samples were collected from different villages of Dhemaji and Lakhimpur districts and were washed and air dried. Ethanolic and Water extracts were prepared using the standard protocols followed by filtration, drying and stored at -20and#8304; C for further use. Different standard qualitative biochemical tests were carried out for detection of phyto constituents. For evaluating the antioxidant properties of the studied extracts, DPPH radical scavenging method was adopted. For the understanding the antimicrobial properties, agar disc diffusion method was applied. The test organisms for this part of the study were Escheriachia Coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhi and Klebsiella species. The data on the presence of active compounds in all four plant extracts were documented based on GC-MS analysis followed by library search. newlineThe qualitative phytochemicals estimation of the plant extracts confirmed the presence of tannins, flavonoids, glycosides, saponins, terpenoids, steroids and coumarins in majority of the extracts. The results were positive for the presence of carbohydrates while proteins and amino acids were found to be negative. Antimicrobial properties were found to be mostly associated with ethanolic extracts of Ipomoea aquatica Forssk and Oldenlandia corymbosa L. The zone of inhibition was recorded to be 30mm and 34 mm respectively against S. aureus and E. coli. The zone of inhibition reported for newlineii newlinethe ethanolic extract of Oldenlandia corymbosa L. was found to be 9mm, 11mm and 7mm respectively against S. aureus, E. coli and Klebsiella species. Only aqueous extract of Vitex negundo L. showed some inhibition against S. aureus with a value of 16mm.The antioxidant activity documented were 15.58% (Oldenlandia corymbosa L.), 17.25% (Vitex negundo L.), 35.96% [Centella asiatica (L)Urb] and 17.57% (Ipomoea aquatica Forssk), reflecting significant antioxidant property of the studied plants. A number of compounds were detected in the GC-MS analysis of which few significant constituents were Acrylic Acid ester, Caryophyllence, 3- methyl-2 (2-oxypropyl) Furan (Vitex negundo L.); 11, 14-eicosadienoic acid,methyl ester, L-(+) Ascorbic acid, 2, 6- Di-hexadecanoate, Glycidyloleate [Oldenladia corymbosa L]; 1,1,1,3,5,7,9,11,11,11 deca-methyl-5 (trimethylsiloxy) hexasiloxane, 3ethoxy1,1,1,7,7,7 hexamethyl 3,5,5 tristetrasiloxan, Cyclononasiloxane octadecamethyl (Ipomoea aquatica Forssk); Neophytadiene, Eicosanoic Acid, Pentadecanoic Acid, 14- Bromo [Centella asiatica]. The biological activity of such compounds includes antimicrobial activity, anti cancerous properties, anti-inflammatory role, blood pressure regulatory role and anti arthritic properties to name few. newlineThe current study could generate baseline scientific data on four important medicinal plants pertaining to their phyto constituents, anti oxidant activities and antimicrobial properties. A total of 30 significant peaks corresponding to as many active compounds reported here may be studied in detail to understand the action of purified molecules This study provides interesting scientific data on the use of traditional medicinal plants used by the local healers. newline