The marine brown algae Turbinaria conoides was extracted with different solvents, viz., acetone, ethanol, methanol and distilled water. The extracts were screened for the presence of various phytochemicals and examined for antibacterial activity by agar well diffusion method. Diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) associated bacteria and their respective standard strains, such as Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 5923, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853, Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC 700603 and Enterococcus faecal ATCC 25922 were used as test bacteria. Among the different solvent extracts, the aqueous extract possessed the maximum zone of inhibition against both test and standard bacterial strains. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) of the aqueous extract against test pathogens were 128-4μg. The eluent mixture for separating the active fraction was selected by thin layer chromatography (TLC), which was found to be n-hexane: ethylacetate (6:4) with a maximum of four spots. In column chromatography, 25th -27th-minute fractions showed maximum antibacterial activity against all the DFU bacterial strains. Our study aims to find the use of T. conoides for treating DFU-associated bacterial infections. The objectives include exploring different solvent extracts of T. conoides for antibacterial activity and characterization of bioactive metabolite.

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Background: Conifer Podocarpus elongatus belongs to the family Podocarpaceae and some species of Podocarpus are used in traditional medicine. The present study was undertaken to study the anatomical features of the bark of Podocarpus elongatus (Ait) L.Herit. The study was also focused on the antimicrobial activity and phytochemicals present in the bark extract. Methods: The bark was collected from the P. elongatus from Nilgiri Hills of Ooty, Tamil Nadu. The anatomical structures of the bark were elucidated macroscopically and microscopically by using the sectioning techniques. The phytochemical examination was done to confirm the presence of phytochemical components in the methanol extract. The antimicrobial activity was also studied based on the zone of inhibition. Result: The surface of the bark was highly distinguished from other related species, in the pattern of colour, stripes and thickness. Microscopical study envisaged that periderm is characterised by well distinct, continuous structures of the branchy sclereids with thick undulate, continuous segments that have been originated from a deeper cortex. TLS and RLS of the bark view elucidated that the phloem component appeared to be a vertical plane in the fibres. Phloem rays were found as uniseriate with wide sieve cells. Furthermore, antimicrobial activities of the bark exhibited potential effects against examined bacterial and fungal strains.

Cancer is a neoplasmic deadly disease that involves unregulated cell division and tissue invasiveness. Existing lines of cancer treatment include surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. These modern lines of treatment produce serious side effects. Recent studies established that herbs and herbal medicine are free from serious side effects. This study was designed to determine the phytocomponents in the whole plant of Borreria hispida L. Methods: In the present investigation, The plant Borreria collected from places such as Thiruvannamalai, Thiruvallur, Vizhupuram, Pondicherry and Arani. The phytochemical screening of Borreria hispida with Ethanol, Aqueous, Petroleum ether, Acetone and Chloroform and Phytochemical screening was carried out on to identify the major natural chemical groups such as tannins, saponins, flavonoids, phenols, terpenoids, alkaloids, glycosides, cardiac glycosides, coumarins and steroids. The Antioxidant property with various extracts were assessed by standard method by DPPH radical scavenging activity. Results: The Thiruvannamalai accession and the ethanolic extract of plant Borreria showed presence of strong positive phytochemicals for antioxidant property. Conclusion: The ethanolic extract of the plant is further subjected to TLC and GCMS analysis to investigate further phyto constitutions for anticancer activity.