Phytochemical and Antimicrobial Evaluations of some Medicinal Plants of Nepal

Abstract

Use of plant based drugs and chemicals for curing various ailments and personal adornment is as old as human civilization. Plants and plant-based medicaments are the basis of many of the modern pharmaceuticals we use today for our various ailments. The aim of the study was to find out the bioactive chemical constituents and to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of the ethanolic extract of traditionally used eight medicinal plants of Nepal. A qualitative phytochemical analysis was performed for the detection of alkaloids, glycosides, terpenoids, steroids, flavonoids, tannins and reducing sugar. The highest yield of ethanolic extract was found in Azadiracta indica (29.08%). Ocimum santrum contained all the chemicals except flavonoids and reducing sugar however the Colquhounia coccinea lacked alkaloids and reducing sugar. The antimicrobial activities of these plants extract were also observed. The extract of Rhododendron setosum and the essential oil of Eucalyptus globulus were most effective against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus respectively. But the extracts of Azadiracta indica and Elsholtzia fructicosa were found to be most effective against Klebsiella species.

Antibacterial activity of the essential oils from the leaves of Eucalyptus globulus against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus

“…These results are almost similar to those shown by other works on the antimicrobial activity of essential oil of E. globulus leaves as well as those of similar species [14,[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] , and confirms its traditional uses [26,30,31] .…”

Phytochemical Analysis and Antifungal Efficacy of Rhizome Extracts of various plants against Fusarium Wilt and Root Rot of Tomato

“…However, tannins, terpenoids and resins are absent. Steroids, glycosides, terpenoids and flavonoids were found in C. longa while tannins were absent (Chhetri et al, 2008). Anukwuorji et al (2013) revealed that in Z. officinale saponins were abundantly present while tannins, glycosides and flavonoids were moderately present and steroids were not detected.…”

Phytochemical profile of stem bark extracts of Khaya senegalensis by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis

“…The extracts of K. senegalensis stem bark was subjected to preliminary phytochemical analysis to test for the presence/absence of the various classes of active chemical constituent such as saponins, flavonoids, tannins, alkaloids, oxalate, phytate and cyanogenic glycoside using standard laboratory techniques as reported by Sood et al (2012) and Chhetri et al (2008). Quantitative phytochemical analysis of K. senegalensis was also determined using standard biochemical techniques.…”