Ethnobotanical
Leaflets 13: 422-30, 2009. Antimicrobial Activity of Sphaeranthus
indicus L. V. Duraipandiyan, P. Kannan
and S. Ignacimuthu* Entomology Research Institute, Loyola
College, Chennai,
Tamil
Nadu, India 600 034. Email:
entolc@hotmail.com
|
Tested
organisms |
Zone of inhibition in diameter
(mm) |
|||||||||||||||
Streptomycin |
Hexane (mg/disc) |
Benzene (mg/disc) |
Chloroform (mg/disc) |
Ethyl acetate (mg/disc) |
Acetone (mg/disc) |
|||||||||||
10 µg/disc |
1.25 |
2.5 |
5.0 |
1.25 |
2.5 |
5.0 |
1.25 |
2.5 |
5.0 |
1.25 |
2.5 |
5.0 |
1.25 |
2.5 |
5.0 |
|
Bacteria |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bacillus
subtilis MTCC441 |
13 |
12 |
18 |
22 |
- |
9 |
12 |
- |
9 |
10 |
- |
9 |
12 |
- |
10 |
12 |
Staphylococcus aureus |
12 |
11 |
15 |
17 |
- |
11 |
12 |
- |
9 |
10 |
- |
11 |
13 |
- |
- |
10 |
Staphylococcus epidermidis MTCC 3615 |
- |
12 |
16 |
19 |
- |
9 |
14 |
- |
- |
10 |
- |
12 |
13 |
- |
- |
10 |
Enterococcus faecalis |
- |
8 |
10 |
12 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
10 |
- |
- |
9 |
Escherichia coli |
13 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
Klebsiella pneumonia |
11 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
Pseudomonas aeruginosa |
13 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
Fungi |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Candida albicans MTCC
227 |
- |
9 |
10 |
12 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- no activity
Discussion
Hexane extracts of flowers and aerial parts of S. indicus exhibited antibacterial and antifungal activity. The essential oil of S. indicus has been reported for its antifungal activity against plant pathogenic fungi (Rao et al., 1971). A sesquiterpene lactone, 7-hydroxyfrullanolide isolated from S. indicus had antimicrobial activity (Atta-ur-Rahman et al., 1989; Perumalsamy et al., 1999). The inhibition zone of antibiotic streptomycin (10 µg/disc) was comparable with both the flower extract (1.25 mg/disc) and aerial parts extract (2.5 mg/disc) against B.subtilis and S. aureus. Similar antibacterial activity was observed in other plants of the same family (Roose et al., 1998). Higher inhibition zone was observed in B. subtilis at 5 mg/disc for hexane flower extract. The inhibition zone was directly proportional to the concentration used. Hexane flower extract showed MIC at 0.31 mg/ml for Bacillus sp. whereas the aerial part showed higher MIC at 2.5 mg/ml.
Table 2. Antimicrobial activity of the extracts of aerial parts of Sphaeranthus indicus by disc diffusion method
Tested organisms |
Zone of inhibition in
diameter (mm) |
|||||||||||||||||
Streptomycin |
Hexane (mg/disc) |
Benzene (mg/disc) |
Chloroform (mg/disc) |
Ethyl acetate
(mg/disc) |
Acetone (mg/disc) |
|||||||||||||
10 µg/disc |
1.25 |
2.5 |
5.0 |
1.25 |
2.5 |
5.0 |
1.25 |
2.5 |
5.0 |
1.25 |
2.5 |
5.0 |
1.25 |
2.5 |
5.0 |
|||
Bacteria |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Bacillus
subtilis MTCC 441 |
13 |
10 |
13 |
18 |
- |
- |
11 |
- |
- |
12 |
- |
9 |
14 |
- |
- |
13 |
||
Staphylococcus aureus |
12 |
11 |
13 |
16 |
- |
- |
10 |
- |
- |
10 |
- |
8 |
11 |
- |
- |
12 |
||
Staphylococcus epidermidis |
- |
9 |
12 |
14 |
- |
9 |
12 |
- |
9 |
11 |
- |
- |
13 |
- |
- |
9 |
||
Enterococcus faecalis |
- |
8 |
10 |
13 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
9 |
- |
8 |
11 |
- |
- |
- |
||
Escherichia coli |
13 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
||
Klebsiella pneumonia |
11 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
||
Pseudomonas aeruginosa |
13 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
||
Fungi |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Candida albicans MTCC 227 |
- |
8 |
10 |
11 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
||
|
||||||||||||||||||
- no activity
The extracts of flower and aerial parts
showed inhibition against gram positive organisms but not against gram
negative organisms. Similar results were observed in Chrysanthemum coronarium flower extract (Urzua and Mendosa,
2003). Sesquiterpene lactones from Vernonia
colorata, possessed high antibacterial activity primarily against Gram
positive and low activity against Gram negative species (Rabe et al., 2002) similar to our findings
here.
Table 3 Minimum
Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of hexane extracts of Sphaeranthus indicus by
broth micro dilution method
Tested organisms |
Minimum Inhibitory
Concentration (mg/ml) |
|
Flower |
Aerial part |
|
Bacteria |
|
|
Bacillus
subtilis MTCC 441 |
0.31 |
2.5 |
Staphylococcus aureus |
0.15 |
5.0 |
Staphylococcus epidermidis MTCC
3615 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
Enterococcus faecalis |
1.25 |
5.0 |
Escherichia coli |
>5.0 |
>5.0 |
Klebsiella pneumonia |
>5.0 |
>5.0 |
Pseudomonas aeruginosa |
>5.0 |
>5.0 |
Fungi |
|
|
Candida albicans MTCC 227 |
0.15 |
1.25 |
Aspergillus |
1.25 |
2.5 |
Botrytis cinerea |
0.625 |
0.625 |
|
The flower extract showed MIC at 0.15
mg/ml and aerial parts showed MIC at 1.25 mg/ml against C. albicans; this is the first report on anti fungal activity
against Candida as per the available literature. The hexane extract of
flower showed complete inhibition against A.
Conclusion
The S. indicus hexane extracts of flower and aerial parts showed good antibacterial activity against gram positive organisms. Flower extracts were more active than the aerial parts. It also possessed strong antifungal activity against Candida and other tested fungi. The findings of the present research may lead to the development of natural antimicrobial agents
References
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