Ž .Fitoterapia 73 2002 168�170

Short report

Antimicrobial activity of Eupatoriumayapana

Malaya Guptaa,�, U.K. Mazumdera, Ila Chaudhurib,R.K. Chaudhurib, P. Boseb, S. Bhattacharyaa,

L. Manikandana, S. Patraa

aDepartment of Pharmaceutical Technology, Di�ision of Pharmacology, Jada�pur Uni�ersity,Calcutta 700 032, India

bDepartment of Botany, Calcutta Uni�ersity, Calcutta 700025, India

Received 5 November 2001; accepted 5 February 2002

Abstract

Petroleum ether and methanolic extracts of leaves of Eupatorium ayapana were tested fortheir antimicrobial activity. The petroleum ether extract showed higher antibacterial andantifungal activity than the methanolic extract. � 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rightsreserved.

Keywords: Eupatorium ayapana; Antibacterial; Antifungal

Ž . � �Plant. Eupatorium ayapana L. Compositae 1,2 , leaves collected in March 2001from South 24 Paraganas, Calcutta, India and identified by the Botanical Survey of

Ž .India, Shibpur, Calcutta. A voucher specimen PMR-1 is preserved in our labora-tory for future reference.

Uses in traditional medicine. The leaves are used as cardiac stimulant, laxatives� �and anticoagulants 1,3,4 .

Previously isolated classes of constituents. Coumarins, steroids, carotenoids, es-� �sential oils and vitamins are reported to be present in the leaf extract 5 .

� Corresponding author.Ž .E-mail address: shila76in@yahoo.co.in M. Gupta .

0367-326X�02�$ - see front matter � 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.Ž .PII: S 0 3 6 7 - 3 2 6 X 0 2 0 0 0 0 7 - 2

( )M. Gupta et al. � Fitoterapia 73 2002 168�170 169

Table 1aAntimicrobial activity of the petroleum ether extract of Eupatorium ayapana

Ž .Petroleum ether extract �g�ml Standards

250 500 750 1000

Bacteria CBacillus subtilis G � 6 8 12 19 24Staphylococcus aureus G � 8 10 15 16 22Staphylococcus epidermidis G � 8 12 15 19 21Micrococcus leuteus G � 8 12 16 20 22Escherichia coli G � 8 9 14 22 27Pseudomonas aeruginosa G � 6 9 13 14 23Salmonella typhi G � 12 17 20 23 22Shigella dysenteriae G � � � � 8 24Vibrio cholerae G � 6 7 10 10 27Vibrio parahaemolyticus G � � � � 7 21

Fungi GRIAspergillus niger 8 15 18 25 21Aspergillus fla�us 9 12 18 20 21Alternaria solani 10 15 17 23 25Fusarium solani 15 17 20 22 24

a � Ž .�Values are zone of inhibition mm, including the diameter of the bore 5 mm .Ž .C, Chloramphenicol 10 �g�ml .

Ž .GRI, Griseofulvin 25 �g�ml .

Ž . Ž . Ž .Tested material. Petroleum ether 60�80 yield 1.9% and methanol yield 2.61%� �extracts. Phytochemical screening of the extracts 6 gave positive tests for steroids,

coumarins, tannins and saponins.

� �Studied activity. Antimicrobial activity by the cup�plate method 7 . The petroleumether extract was dissolved in 10% DMF and the methanol extract was dissolved in10% DMSO.

Ž .Used micro-organisms. Micro-organisms listed in Tables 1 and 2 were obtainedfrom the stock culture of Central Drugs Laboratory, Calcutta, Indian Institute ofChemical Biology, Calcutta and Mycology and Plant Pathology Laboratory, Cal-cutta University, Calcutta, India.

Results. Reported in Tables 1 and 2.

Conclusions. The petroleum ether extract showed broad spectrum of activityŽ .against all the bacterial strains at the tested concentration 250�1000 �g�ml

except Shigella dysenteriae. The petroleum ether extract also showed antifungalactivity. The methanol extract showed less activity than that of petroleum etherextract at the tested concentration against both bacterial and fungal strains.

( )M. Gupta et al. � Fitoterapia 73 2002 168�170170

Table 2aAntimicrobial activity of the methanol extract of Eupatorium ayapana

Ž .Methanol extract �g�ml Standards

250 500 750 1000

Bacteria CBacillus subtilis G � � � 6 8 24Staphylococcus aureus G � � � 7 10 22Staphylococcus epidermidis G � 6 7 10 12 21Micrococcus leuteus G � � � 8 10 23Escherichia coli G � 6 8 9 11 27Pseudomonas aeruginosa G � � 6 10 13 23Salmonella typhi G � 5 7 10 15 22Shigella dysenteriae G � � � � � 24Vibrio cholerae G � � � � � 27Vibrio parahaemolyticus G � � � � 8 21

Fungi GRIAspergillus niger � � � � 23Aspergillus fla�us � � � � 21Alternaria solani � � 9 15 25Fusarium solani � � 6 10 24

a � Ž .�Values are zone of inhibition mm, including the diameter of the bore 5 mm .Ž .C, Chloramphenicol 10 �g�ml .

Ž .GRI, Griseofulvin 25 �g�ml .

Acknowledgements

ŽDr Ila Chaudhuri is grateful to the Department of Biotechnology, Science &. Ž .Society , Project No.-BT�PR 1129�SPD�11�075�98 for granting financial sup-

port. The authors also extend their thanks to Prof. N. Samajpati Mycology andPlant Pathology Laboratory, Calcutta University, Calcutta and Southern HealthImprovement Samity, 24 Parganas, for providing support.

References

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