Phytochemical Screening and Antimicrobial Activity of Artocarpus heterophyllus and Artocarpus altilis Leaf and Stem Bark Extracts

Abstract

Increasing drug resistance of pathogens and negative consequences of antibiotic usage has led to the search for alternative medicines from nature. Many plants have been exploited to cure infectious diseases from time immemorial. The present investigation evaluated the antimicrobial and phytochemical properties of Artocarpus heterophyllus i.e. Jack fruit (Kos in Sinhala) and Artocarpus altilis i.e. Bread fruit (Dhel in Sinhala) leaf and stem bark extracts. Hexane, dichloromethane and ethanol were used as extraction solvents and test organisms were Escherichia coli, Micrococcus luteus, Aspergillus niger and Trichoderma sp. A disc diffusion test was adopted to test the susceptibility of the selected microbes to the extracts while Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined using serial dilution of extracts. Phytochemical screening was carried out by specific chemical identification tests. Bioassay data were statistically analyzed using two-way ANOVA (SPSS 20 at 95% confidence level). Ethanolic stem bark extracts (30mg/ml) of A.heterophyllus and A.altilis possessed significant antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli with 9.50 ± 0.44 mm and 7.49 ± 0.28 mm inhibition zone radii respectively. Dichloromethane extracts of leaf and stem bark showed lesser antibacterial activity against both of the bacteria with inhibition zones of 3.00 ± 0.34 mm to 5.66 ± 0.16 mm while hexane extracts did not show any antibacterial activity. Antifungal activity on the other hand was not detected in any of the extracts. Bacterial antibiotic tetracycline and fungal antibiotic ketoconazole which were used as positive controls were more effective even at 1/10 concentration compared to all the plant extracts tested. Phytochemical screening confirmed the presence of phytosterols, anthraquinone, terpenoids, phenols, glycosides, flavonoids and diterpenes in both of the trees. These results confirm the potential antibacterial activity of A.heterophyllus and A.altilis

In Vitro Antibacterial Activity of Crude Extracts of Artocarpus heterophyllus Seeds against Selected Diarrhoea-Causing Superbug Bacteria

“…The authors also showed that P. aeruginosa and E. coli had lower zones of inhibition. The present study findings were in line with study conducted by Sivagnanasundaram and Karunanayake [ 48 ] which revealed that E. coli was resistant to leaf extracts of Artocarpus heterophyllus . The resistance of Gram-negative bacteria used in this study could be due to the extract's inability to penetrate the bacterial outer membrane.…”

<i>In vitro</i> Evaluation of the Anti-scavenging and Anthelmintic Activities of <i>Artocarpus heterophyllus</i> LAM Leaves (Moraceae) in the Democratic Republic of Congo

“…Our results confirm those obtained by Prakash et al [29] and Sivagnanasundaram and Karunanayake [32] who also reported the presence of terpenoids in the leaves of A. heterophyllus.…”

“…These results are consistent with those of Thapa et al [31] and those of Sivagnanasundaram and Karunanayake [32] showing the presence of coumarins and anthraquinones in the leaves of A. heterophyllus Lam, respectively.…”

Evaluation of Antidiarrheal Effect of Artocarpus Altilis (Park.) Leaves in Mice

“…The result was in agreement with previous study which reported the ability of A. heterophyllus to reduce the frequency of diarrhea 15 . The ability of Artocarpus altilis to reduce the onset of diarrhea, frequency of diarrhea and duration of diarrhea might be due to the presence of tannin as reported in previous phytochemical study 8 . Tannins are able to narrow the cells so that preventing the muscle secretion 9 .…”

“…Indonesian people known this plant by its edible fruit. Phytochemical study of A. altilis led to the identification of saponins, tannins, steroids, flavonoids and polyphenols 8 . Tannins are well known secondary metabolite to have anti-diarrheal activity by narrowing the cells so that preventing the muscle secretion 9 .…”