Abstract
The aim of the current work was to screen the crude methanolic extract (Cr. MeOH Ext.) and various fractions of Hedera nepalensis for antibacterial, antifungal, brine-shrimp lethality, phytotoxicity, heamagglutination, insecticidal and nitric oxide free radical scavenging assay. The results revealed that chloroform (CHCl3) fraction of the plant possess good antibacterial activity (60%) against Staphylococcus aureus while the rest of the fractions and Cr. MeOH Ext. showed moderate (>40%) and low antibacterial activity (<40%). The Cr. MeOH Ext., n-hexane and ethyl acetate (EtOAc) fractions of the plant showed good phytotoxicity at higher concentration (1000 µg/ml) while low phytotoxicity was observed at lower concentrations (100 and 10 µg/ml), against Lamina minor. The Cr. MeOH Ext., n-hexane and CHCl3 fractions of the plant showed good nitric oxide free radical scavenging activity at a concentration of 1.5 mg/ml. Moderate brine shrimp lethality was also observed for Cr. MeOH Ext. and CHCl3 fraction at a concentration of 1000 µg/ml, against Artemisia salina. The plant materials (Cr. MeOH Ext. and various fractions) exhibited no antifungal, insecticidal or heamagglutination activity. Key words: Antibacterial, antifungal, brine-shrimp lethality, phytotoxicity, heamagglutination, insecticidal and nitric oxide free radical scavenging assay.
Highlights
Plants are employed to be used as medicines since long but specifying them for diseases started later on
The results revealed that chloroform (CHCl3) fraction of the plant possess good antibacterial activity (60%) against Staphylococcus aureus while the rest of the fractions and Cr
Low antibacterial activity was shown by this fraction against S. epidermidis (39.3%), S. typhi (35.7%) and S. pneumoniae (34.6%)
Summary
Plants are employed to be used as medicines since long but specifying them for diseases started later on. Various efforts were made in the past to explore the medicinal flora and the pharmacists are still trying their best to explore the importance of medicinal flora throughout the world. Pakistan is the country with four seasons a year and is richly accumulated with phyto-medicinal flora that needs extensive labor and effort to be explored. It has been estimated that approximately 8000 plant species have medicinal importance of which 2000 are found in Pakistan (Oliyiowola, 1984). The family is native to Nepal and Bhutan as well as China, Afghanistan, India, Laos Thailand, Myanmar and Vietnam at altitude of approximately 1000 to 3000 m. The family is represented here by 3 genera, each having a single species (Shahina, 1989; Nasir, 1975)
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