Phytochemical screening and antimicrobial assay of various seeds extract of cucurbitaceae family.

ABSTRACT

The present study deals with the antimicrobial activity and phytochemical screening of seeds extract of five plants of Cucurbitaceae family- Momordica charantia (Karella), Cucumis sativa (Cucumber), Praecitrullus fistulosus (Tinda), Cucurbita pepo (Kaddu), Lagenaria siceraria (loki) that are commonly available and readily consumed in India. Results of antimicrobial activity revealed that all the seeds extracts were very effective against Serratia marcescens , E. coli, Streptococcus thermophilous, Fusarium oxysporium, Trichoderma reesei while some extracts showed no inhibition against Aspergillus niger (Cucumis sativa), Candida albicans (Praecitrullus fistulosus, Cucurbita pepo, Lagenaria siceraria). Phytochemical analysis of these plants confirms the presence of various phytochemicals like tannins, cardiac glycosides, terpenoides, carbohydrates, resins, saponins and phytosterols. While other phtochemicals like alkaloids, flavonoids, glycosides, steroidal terpenes and phylobatamins were found to be absent in all the extracts. These plants can be a source of useful drugs but further studies are required to isolate the active component from the crude plant extract for proper drug development.