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: [email protected]
|
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 ATCC 25923 |
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 ATCC 25922 |
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 ATCC 25922 |
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 ATCC 25923 |
0.15 |
5.0 |
Staphylococcus epidermidis MTCC 3615 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212 |
1.25 |
5.0 |
Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 |
>5.0 |
>5.0 |
Klebsiella pneumonia ATCC 15380 |
>5.0 |
>5.0 |
Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853 |
>5.0 |
>5.0 |
Fungi |
|
|
Candida albicans MTCC 227 |
0.15 |
1.25 |
Aspergillus niger MTCC 1344 |
1.25 |
2.5 |
Botrytis cinerea |
0.625 |
0.625 |
ATCC - American Type Culture Collection Centre; MTCC - Microbial Type Culture Collection, India |
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. niger and B. cinerae; the MIC was determined as 1.25 and 0.625 mg/ml respectively. The hexane extract of aerial parts showed MIC as 2.5 and 0.625 mg/ml against A. niger and B. cinerea respectively. The antifungal activity against Trichophyton spp., Epidermophyton floccosum and Microsporum cooki was reported in thiophene compound isolated from Tagetes patula (Asteraceae) (Romagnoli et al., 1998). Antifungal activity was also reported for the ethanol extract of underground parts of Leuzea carthamoides (Asteraceae) against C. albicans, A. fumigatus (Chobot et al., 2003), and Centaurea hermanni (Asteraceae) (Sur-Altiner et al., 1997). which is similar to our results.
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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