ABSTRACT
To investigate the phytochemical constituents of methanolic extracts of leaf and stem of Marsilea quadrifolia (Linn.). Methods: The methanolic leaf and stem extracts of M. quadrifolia were prepared by standard procedure and concentrated at 40ºC using hot air oven. The concentrated methanolic extracts were subjected to phytochemical analysis using GC-MS. Results: The GC-MS analyes showed that the presence of 39 phytocompounds in the methanolic extract of leaf of M. quadrifolia including 4H-Pyran-4-one,2,3-dihydro-3,5- dihydroxy-6-methyl-(21.41%); n-Hexadecanoic acid (17.47%); 9,12,15-Octadecatrienoic acid,methylester (Z,Z,Z)-(12.96%); 2-Furancarboxaldehyde,5-(hydroxyl methyl)-(9.39%) and 9,12,15-Octadecatrien-1-ol (Z,Z,Z)-(3.54%). The methanolic extract of stem of M. quadrifolia revealed that the presence of 29 bioactive compounds including 2- Furancarboxaldehyde, 5-(hydroxymethyl)-(60.42%); 4H-Pyran-4-one, 2, 3-dihydro-3, 5-di hydroxyl-6-methyl-(13.88%); n-Hexadecanoic acid-(6.00%); 6-Octadecenoic acid (Z)- (2.69%) and Furfural-(2.23%). Conclusions: The result of the GC-MS analysis showed that the methanolic extract of M. quadrifolia contains many pharmacologically important bioactive compounds. However M. quadrifolia is an important medicinal plant and used in the traditional system of medicine to cure many diseases including diabetes mellitus. So there are need of further studies to isolate and identify the specific phytocompound involved in controlling diseases and ultimately which may lead to drug development.
ABSTRACT
Objective: To investigate the antimicrobial activity of different solvent extracts of leaf and stem of M. quadrifolia (L.) against selected human pathogenic microorganisms. Methods: The antimicrobial activity was evaluated by well diffusion method. The antibacterial and antifungal studies were carried out at the Department Laboratory, Government Arts College (Autonomous), Kumbakonam – 612 001, Tamilnadu, India during the months of July to December 2013. Wells of 6 mm diameter were punched in the agar medium and filled with different volumes of extracts (50mg/ml) contains 2.5, 3.75 and 5mg concentrations. Results: The antimicrobial activity of different solvent extracts of leaf and stem of M. quadrifolia at different concentrations was analyzed. Among the concentrations, 5mg of both leaf and stem extracts showed best antimicrobial activity than other concentrations 2.5 and 3.75mg. The leaf and stem extracts showed antimicrobial activity and produced the zone of inhibition ranges from 8 to 23mm. The aqueous leaf extract showed maximum zone of inhibition 23mm against Streptococcus pyogenes followed by ethanolic stem extract showed 21mm against Bacillus subtilis. The minimum antibacterial activity 8mm was observed by diethyl ether stem extract against Klebsiella pneumonia. The antifungal activity of diethyl ether leaf extract showed positive results in all tested fungal strains when compared to other solvent extracts. The maximum zone of inhibition 13mm was observed against Aspergillus terreus at 5mg of diethyl ether leaf extract. Aqueous and methanolic leaf extracts had no antifungal activity in all tested fungal strains except 5mg of methanolic leaf extract. The aqueous and diethyl ether stem extracts showed potent antifungal activity and the maximum zone of inhibition 15mm was observed against Aspergillus niger. Diethyl ether stem extract also showed maximum zone of inhibition 15mm against Trichoderma viride. Conclusion: From this study, we concluded that it may be a new source for the discovery of novel antimicrobial compounds from M. quadrifolia.