Pharmacological Analysis of Obnoxious Water Weed: Eichhornia Crassipes (Mart.) Solms

Abstract

Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms, commonly known as water hyacinth, an aquatic plant coined to diverse activities including its role as an obnoxious weed with tremendous economic and aesthetic implications. The aim of the current experiment was to explore antimicrobial, antioxidant and phytochemical properties of this weed while using different non-polar solvents viz., petroleum ether, chloroform and polar solvents i.e., methanol and aqueous (distilled water) solvent extracts of root, stem and leaf of E. crassipes. Disc diffusion method was employed to analyse the antifungal activity against two fungi (Penicillium italicum and Botrytis cinerea) and antibacterial activities against two bacteria viz. Xanthomonas axonopodis and Bordetella pertussis. The extracts of weed showed significant activity against these two fungi and two bacteria when compared to standard. Maximum antifungal and antibacterial potential was recorded in leaf chloroform extract against B. cinerea (29 mm) and in leaf methanol extract against B. pertussis (17 mm) respectively among other extracts. Moreover, antioxidant potential of weed also showed the presence of significant secondary metabolites. Phytochemical analysis indicate presence of alkaloids, coumarins, terpenoids, tannins and flavonoides and absence of saponins, anthrax-quinones, phlobatanins and cardiac glycosides by standard procedures. These results also depict the significance of the plant in pharmaceutical industry.

Phytol as a hepatoprotective compound in the leaves of Eichhornia crassipes

“…The plant is also abundant in different bioactive substances, which have a wide range of pharmacological properties. These include antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory as well as hepatoprotective, and wound healing [3][4][5][6][7]. The liver is a vital organ in the human body [8][9][10].…”

Characterization of endophytic bacteriome diversity and associated beneficial bacteria inhabiting a macrophyte Eichhornia crassipes

“…Water hyacinth ( Eichhornia crassipes ) is an aquatic floating weed present throughout the tropical and subtropical world, with a high reproductive capacity. E. crassipes can be used for animal feed, biofuel production ( Ayanda et al., 2020 ), and pharmaceuticals ( Khalid et al., 2020 ), and it affects the ecological characteristics of freshwater ecosystems through attributes such as phytoremediation potential ( Gaballah et al., 2021 ; Singh and Balomajumder, 2021 ). Previous culture-dependent studies revealed that E. crassipes harbored a wide diversity of rhizosphere ( Zheng and Fu, 2015 ; Lafta Alzurfi and Katia, 2021 ), endosphere ( Lan et al., 2008 ), phyllo- and root-endosphere bacteria ( Shehzadi et al., 2016 ).…”

Utilization of extract hyacinth weed (Eichhornia crassipes [mart.] Solms) on Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum)

“…In Indonesia, people recognize water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes [mart.] Solms) as a type of aquatic plant, considered a weed in water areas 2 because it spreads very quickly and cannot be controlled and causes many losses, namely reducing the productivity of aquatic land 3 . Water hyacinths can cause environmental problems because of their fast growth, which can cover the water's surface.…”