Membrane Stabilizing And Antimicrobial Activities Of Caladium Bicolor And Chenopodium Album

Abstract

The crude methanol extracts of whole plant of Caladium bicolor (Aiton) Vent. and leaf of Chenopodium album L. as well as their pet-ether, carbon tetrachloride, chloroform and aqueous soluble fractions were evaluated for membrane stabilizing and antimicrobial activities. At concentration 1.0 mg/ml, the carbon tetrachloride soluble fraction of C. bicolor inhibited 43.92±1.63% and 38.08±0.83 % hypotonic solution and heat induced haemolysis of RBCs, respectively. Among the extractives of C. album, the aqueous soluble fraction inhibited 47.11±0.49 % and 36.73±0.76 % hypotonic solution and heat induced haemolysis of RBCs as compared to 72.79 % and 42.12 % by acetyl salicylic acid (0.10 mg/ml), respectively. C. bicolor test samples demonstrated zone of inhibition ranging from 6.0 to 20.0 mm. The chloroform soluble fraction showed the highest zone of inhibition (20.0 mm) against Staphylococcus aureus. The test samples of C. album displayed zone of inhibition ranging from 7.0 to 13.0 mm. The highest zone of inhibition (13.0 mm) was showed by the chloroform soluble fraction against Salmonella paratyphi. Keywords- Caladium bicolor (Aiton) Vent., Chenopodium album L., membrane stabilizing activity, hypotonic solution, disc diffusion method, zone of inhibition