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Ethnobotanical Leaflets 13:618-24, 2009. Phytochemical Screening
and Antimicrobial Activity of the Plant Extracts of Mimosa pudica L. Against Selected Microbes N. Gandhiraja,
S. Sriram,* V. Meenaa, J.
Kavitha Srilakshmi, C. Sasikumar and R.Rajeswari PG Department of
Biotechnology, Puthanampatti-621 007, Tiruchirappalli Dt,
Tamilnadu, India *Corresponding
Author: meena.venkat2008@gmail.com Issued Abstract Mimosa pudica
L. is a creeping annual or perennial herb. It has been identified as Lajjalu in Ayurveda and has
been found to have antiasthmatic, aphrodisiac,
analgesic and antidepressant. In the present study the active phytocomponents of Mimosa
pudica were
revealed using phytochemical analysis. The
antimicrobial activity of Mimosa
was studied using well diffusion method. The activity was tested against Aspergillus fumigatus, Citrobacter divergens and Klebsiella pneumonia at different concentrations
of 50, 100 and 200µg/disc and the results have been illustrated. Keywords: Mimosa pudica,
antimicrobial activity, antiasthmatic, aphrodisiac,
analgesic. Introduction Herbal medicine involves the use of
plants for medicinal purposes. The term “Herb” includes leaves, stems,
flowers, fruits, seeds, roots, rhizomes and bark. There can be little doubt
that the use of plants for healing purposes is the most ancient form of
medicine known. The quest for plants with medicinal properties continues to
receive attention as scientists are in need of plants, particularly of ethno
botanical significance for a complete range of biological activities, which
ranges from antibiotic to anticancerous. Several
plants and herb species used traditionally have potential antimicrobial and
antiviral properties (Shelef, 1983; Zaika, 1988) and this has raised the optimism of scientists about the
future of phyto-antimicrobial agents.(Das et al.,1999). Several
phytochemical surveys have been published,
including the random sampling approach which involved some plant accessions
collected from all parts of the world. The major chemical substances of
interest in these surveys were the alkaloids and steroidal sapogenins, however other diverse groups of naturally
occurring phytocomponents such as flavonoids, tannins, unsaturated sterols, triterpenoids, essential oils etc., have also been
reported (Lozoya et al., 1990). There is currently a large and ever expanding
global population base that prefers the use of natural products in treating
and preventing medical problems because herbal plants have proved to have a
rich resource of medicinal properties.
Mimosa pudica L. is a creeping annual or
perennial herb often grown for its curiosity value, as the compound leaves
fold inward and droop when touched and reopens within minutes. It belongs to
the Fabaceae family. Mimosa pudica is native to This plant has a history of use for the
treatment of various ailments and the most commonly used plant part for this
purpose is the root, but flowers, bark and fruit can
also be utilized. Several research works have been carried out to study about
the phytochemical components of Mimosa pudica
(Ahmad and Beg, 2001; Arthur, 1954; Deininger,
1984) and also about the antimicrobial activity of the plant (Palacios. et al., 1991; Ojalaa,
et al., 1999). The present study
intends to study about the antibacterial Activity of the Plant Extracts of Mimosa pudica against
selected Microbes. Materials and Methods Sample Preparation
Mimosa pudica leaves were collected
together and shade dried. Since certain compounds get denatured in sunlight,
it is dried under shade to avoid decomposition. The dried leaves were then
pulverized well in an Udy cyclone mill. About 20g
of the powdered leaves were soaked in 100ml of methanol. It was left for 24
hours so that alkaloids, terpenoids and other
constituents if present get dissolved. The methanolic
extract was filtered using Whatmann 41 filter
paper. It was again filtered through Sodium sulphate
in order to remove the traces of moisture. Preliminary Phytochemical
Screening Phytochemical screening of the plant extract was carried out as per the methods and tests given by Dey and Raman (1957) to decipher the presence or absence of various phytocompounds. Antimicrobial Assay Media Preparation Bacterial Media (Muller Hinton Media) 36g of Muller Hinton
Media (Hi-Media) was mixed with distilled water and then sterilized in
autoclave at 15lb pressure for 15 minutes. The sterilized media were poured
into petri dishes. The solidified plates were bored
with 5mm diameter cork bearer. The plates with wells were used for the
antibacterial studies. Fungal Media (Potato dextrose sugar) 200g of potato slices were boiled with
distilled water. The potato infusion was used as water source of media
preparation. 20g of dextrose was mixed with potato infusion. 20g of agar was
added as a solidifying agent. These constituents were mixed and autoclaved.
The solidified plates were bored with 6mm diameter cork borer. The plates
with wells were used for antifungal studies. Antibacterial activity of the plant
extract The methanolic extract of 50µg, 100µg and 200µg were tested against two bacterial pathogens namely Citrobacter divergens and Klebsiella pnemoniae, for their antimicrobial activity. It was demonstrated by well diffusion method. Antifungal activity of the plant
extract The methanolic
extract and aqueous extract of 100, 200 and 500µg were tested against
different fungal pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus for their antifungal activity. It was
demonstrated by well diffusion assay. Well diffusion method Antibacterial and Antifungal activities
of the plant extract were tested using Well diffusion method (Bauer et al ., 1996). The prepared culture
plates were inoculated with different selected strains of bacteria and fungi
using streak plate method. Wells were made on the agar surface with 6mm cork
borer. The extracts were poured into the well using sterile syringe. The
plates were incubated at 37ºC+2ºC for 24 hours for bacterial and 25+2ºC
for 48 hours for fungal activity. The plates were observed for the zone
clearance around the wells. The extract of the dried leaves was used for the study. The methanol extract was dissolved in sterile distilled water to form dilution such as 50µg, 100µg and 200µg. Each concentration of the plant extract was tested against different bacterial pathogens. It was demonstrated by well diffusion assay (Bauer et al ., 1996). The zone of inhibition was calculated by measuring the diameter of the inhibition zone around the well (in mm) including the well diameter. The readings were taken in three different fixed directions in all 3 replicates and the average values were tabulated. Results The preliminary Phytochemical
screening of Mimosa pudica
extract showed the presence of bioactive components like Terpenoids,
Flavonoids, Glycosides, Alkaloids, Quinines,
Phenols, Tannins, Saponins and Coumarin
(Table 1).The results of the antimicrobial assay of the methanolic
extract of Mimosa pudica
indicated that the plant exhibited antimicrobial activity against the tested
microorganisms at three different concentrations of 50, 100 and 200µg/disc.
The potential sensitivity of the extract was obtained against all the three
micro organisms tested and the zone of inhibition was recorded and presented
below in the tabulation drawn (Table 2). Table 1. Phytochemical Screening of Metanolic Extract of Mimosa pudica.
Table 2. Antimicrobial activity of
Metanolic Extract of Mimosa pudica.
Discussion and Conclusion In the present era, plant and herb resources are abundant, but these resources are dwindling fast due to the onward march of civilization (Vogel, 1991). Although a significant number of studies have been used to obtain purified plant chemical, very few screening programmes have been initiated on crude plant materials. It has also been widely observed and accepted that the medicinal value of plants lies in the bioactive phytocomponents present in the plants (Veeramuthu et al., 2008). In the present investigation, the active phytocomponents of Mimosa pudica was studied and further the antimicrobial activity of the plant extract was also tested against three potentially pathogenic microorganisms Aspergillus fumifatus, Citrobacter diversens and Klebsiella pneumonia at different concentrations of the extract to understand the most effective activity. The maximum zone of inhibition was obtained for Aspergillus fumigatus and Klebsiella pneumonia at a concentration of 200µg/200µl. While Klebsiella pneumonia exhibited good sensitivity against both the concentrations, Citrobacter divergens showed resistance against Mimosa pudica extract at all concentrations. From the above studies, it is concluded
that the traditional plants may represent new sources of anti-microbials
with stable, biologically active components
that can establish a scientific base for the use of
plants in modern medicine. These local ethnomedical
preparations and prescriptions of plant sources should be
scientifically evaluated and then disseminated properly and the
knowledge about the botanical preparation of traditional sources of
medicinal plants can be extended for future investigation into the field
of pharmacology, phytochemistry,
ethnobotany and other biological actions
for drug discovery. References Ahmad, I, and Beg, A. Z. 2001. Antimicrobial and phytochemical studies on 45 Indian medicinal plants against multi-drug resistant human pathogens. J Ethnopharmacol 74 : 113–23. Arthur H. R. 1954. A Phytochemical survey of
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containing herbal plants growing in Palacious C, and Reyes, R. E. 1991. Antibacterial and Antimycotic of Mimosa pudica in experimental animals, Arch Invest Med. (Mex), 22(2) : 163-169. Shelef, L. A. 1983. Antimicrobial effects of spices. J. Food Safety 6 :
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