PRELIMINARY PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING AND ANTIBACTERIAL ANALYSIS OF THE LEAF EXTRACTS OF LAUNAEA PROCUMBENS ROXB.

ABSTRACT

                The present study evaluate the phytochemical profiling and the antibacterial activity of Launaea  procumbens Roxb. Four different solvents viz., methanol, ethanol, chloroform and water were used for the extraction of plant leaves. The antibacterial activity was measured by the agar well diffusion method and determined by the Minimum Inhibition Concentration (MIC) against five pathogenic strains of bacteria viz., Pseudomonas aureoginosa, Proteus mirabilis, Klebsiella  pneumoneae,  Acetobacter  and  Escherichia coli. The potential of extracts, methanolic (9.46 mg/ml), ethanolic (6.17  mg/ml),  chloroform  (8.84  mg/ml)  and  water  (14.34  mg/ml)  was  recorded  by  the  agar  well diffusion method and two well-known antibiotics Kenamycin (0.03  mg/ml) and Gentamycin (0.03  mg/ml) were used as the positive control. Among all the extracts, methanolic extract showed the maximum activity against almost all the species of bacteria, while the minimum activity was found to be of the aqueous extract. The phytochemical screening of the methanolic extract revealed the presence of alkaloids, phenols, tannins, flavonoids, steroids, glycosides and triterpenes in varying concentrations. Hence, the study could help out the use of plant leaves locally for the therapeutic purpose against bacterial infections as a potent antimicrobial source. 

Keywords:- Launaea  procumbens  Roxb., Antibacterial analysis, Phytochemical analysis, Therapeutic purpose, Agar well diffusion method, Minimum Inhibition Concentration (MIC).