Abstract
AbstractSynthetic drugs, which are having serious side effects, are cytotoxic to human beings. Moreover, bacteria slowly become resistant against antibiotics. In order to overcome these problems, scientists are continuing to search for antibacterial and novel principles from plants. Zanthoxylum limonella has been popularly used in traditional systems of medicine for the treatment of dental caries, cardiac, respiratory diseases and stomach problems. The present study was therefore focused on finding out the medicinal properties of the bark of Z. limonella tested against some selected bacteria using disc-diffusion method at the concentration of 100, 200 and 300 mg/ml. The methanol and water extracts of the bark exhibited effective antibacterial activity against S. aureus at a concentration of 300 mg/ml compared to the other extracts. Phytochemcial screening results also support the present findings and proved the traditional usage of this plant by tribal healers in the Kolli hills of Tamil Nadu.
Highlights
Zanthoxylum limonella L. (Dennst.) Alston belongs to the family Rutaceae
The bark of Z. limonella extract was tested against diverse bacteria and the results revealed that all the extracts were found to inhibit the bacterial growth with varying degree within the concentrations tested
The results correlate with that of Moura et al[1], who reported that the methanol, aqueous crude extract and basic fraction of zanthoxylin from the bark of Zanthoxylum rhoifolium had antibacterial properties
Summary
Zanthoxylum limonella L. (Dennst.) Alston belongs to the family Rutaceae. It is a climbing shrub, capable of growing upto 50 meter height and the cylindrical stem has small spikes on the surface. Several authors have reported on the isolated classes of constituents obtained from stem bark of Zanthoxylum sprucei such as lepeol, β-sitosterol, (+)-sesamin, trans-dimethylmataairresinol, hesperidin, (-)-cis-Nmethylcanadine, sucrose[4], liriodenine, sesamin, lichexanthone, piperitol, savinin, lirioodenine and decrine from Z. tetraspermum and Z. 50 g of bark powder was extracted successively in soxhlet apparatus using 300 ml of solvents such as hexane, diethyl ether, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate and methanol; 50 g of bark powder was suspended with 300 ml of distilled water over night in the room temperature.
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