Abstract
<p><strong>Objective: </strong>Plants contain different classes of phytochemicals which have different levels of solubility in solvents, based on their polarity. Hence, this study aims to compare the effects of various solvents on the phytochemical profile and biological potential of <em>Ormocarpum cochinchinense</em>. The present study is the first to evaluate the antifungal activity of the plant.<strong></strong></p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The sequential extraction was carried out using two sets of solvent systems namely hexane, ethyl acetate, ethanol and chloroform, acetone, methanol. The extracts were subjected to standard phytochemical analysis, antimicrobial activity by disc diffusion method against eight bacteria and six fungi and antioxidant activity by 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Varied range of phytochemicals was found in the extracts. Acetone extract was rich in phenolic compounds, whereas terpenoids were extracted only in methanol. Acetone extracts showed highest antibacterial activity with a maximum zone of 14.5 mm against <em>Shigella flexineri</em> whereas ethyl acetate extract showed the best antifungal activity with the highest zone of inhibition of 12 mm against <em>Trichophyton menta agrophytes.</em> Hexane and chloroform extracts did not show any antimicrobial activity. For DPPH assay, the ethanol extracts showed the highest percentage inhibition of 92.87%. <strong></strong></p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The present investigation on the plant <em>O. cochinchinense</em> has proved that the selection of solvent for extraction should be based on the target compounds and their bioactivity and concludes that acetone was the best for the extraction of antibacterial compounds and ethyl acetate for antifungal compounds whereas, ethanol was the best for extracting antioxidant compounds in <em>O. cochinchinense.</em></p>
Highlights
Plants are great reservoirs of phytochemicals which possess diverse therapeutic properties
The solvent-free extracts were subjected to phytochemical analysis, antimicrobial activity by disc diffusion method and antioxidant activity by DPPH assay
Phytosterols were present in hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and acetone extracts
Summary
Plants are great reservoirs of phytochemicals which possess diverse therapeutic properties. Phytochemicals from medicinal plants protect against many chronic degenerative diseases [1]. This is the reason why plants have been studied extensively over the years for their various therapeutic potentials namely antimutagenic, antimicrobial, antioxidant, anticancer, etc., [2]. Apart from therapeutic purpose, phytochemicals are used as precursors for the synthesis of many drugs and about 80% of present day medicines are directly or indirectly obtained from plants [3]. The important steps in isolating a biologically active phytochemical from plants are extraction, isolation and characterization of the bioactive compound. The solvents solubilize the compounds of similar polarity by diffusing into the solid plant tissue. A good solvent should have low toxicity, easy to evaporate, preservative action, inability to cause complex or dissociation of extract, should not interfere with the bioassay [5]
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