European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

STUDIES ON ALKALOIDS EXTRACTION, IDENTIFICATION BY THIN LAYER CHROMATOGRAPHY FROM SOME MEDICINAL PLANTS AND EVALUATING ITS ANTIMICROBIAL POTENTIAL.

Shruti Singh* and Shristi Vora

ABSTRACT

Herbal medicine is the use of medicinal plants for prevention and treatment of diseases: it ranges from traditional and popular medicines of every country to the use of standardized and titrated herbal extracts. It aims to return the body to a state of natural balance, so that it can start healing itself. Different herbs act on different systems of the body. They tend to be more effective for long-standing health complaints that don't respond well to traditional medicine. In the present study, alkaloids extraction and its presence were identified in six medicinal plants (Anemone obstusiloba, Terminalia chebula, Withania somnifera, Acacia nilotica and Convolvulus pluricaulis) and Pudina (Mentha sp.) with the help of TLC method. Convolvulus Pluricaulis (Shankpushpi) and Mentha sp. (Pudina) showed intense violet colour bands under UV light proving the presence of alkaloids .The present study was further carried out to find out the antibacterial activity of methanolic extract of Convolvulus pluricaulis and Mentha sp. against Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli) and Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus) using agar well diffusion method. Our finding suggest that methanolic extract of Convolvulus pluricaulis and Mentha sp.has potent antibacterial activity against the pathogenic strains of Staphylococcus aureus and E.coli and exhibited the significant wide spectrum of antibacterial activity against both Gram’s positive and Gram’s negative bacteria. The broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity of these plant extract, possibly due to the reported secondary metabolites, further confirm its use as a health remedy in folklore medicine. Bioactive substances from this plant can therefore be employed in the formulation of antimicrobial agents for the treatment of various bacterial and fungal infections including gonorrhoea, pneumonia, eye infections and mycotic infections.

Keywords: Medicinal plants, Alkaloids, TLC, Antimicrobial activity.