ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY, PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING AND GC-MS ANALYSIS OF PETROLEUM ETHER EXTRACT OF THE MEDICINAL PLANT CYATHEA NILGIRENSIS HOLTTUM

*G. Pradheesh, J. Suresh2, S. Suresh, V. Alexramani and S. I. Hong

ABSTRACT

The present study was carried out to identify the bioactive compounds present in the Pet-ether extract of Cyathea nilgirensis Holttum and to study the antimicrobial activity of the petroleum ether extract of the plant. The zone of inhibition and percentage of inhibition of the extract against test microorganisms was determined using disc diffusion method. The test microorganisms included six standard bacterial species - Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Micrococcus luteus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella paratyphi and Klebsiella pneumoniae and two fungal species - Candida albicans and Aspergillus niger. The primary and secondary metabolites were identified using spot tests. Various bioactive compounds were identified using GC-MS analysis. The petroleum ether fraction inhibited the chosen microbial species. GC-MS analaysis had shown the presense of compounds like Squalene, Pentacosane, Triacontane, 5,10 –dimethy- l6,8- bisdehydro pentapentadecafulvalene and 4-[10-(3,4-Dimethoxy) phenanthryl] morpholine in the petroleum ether extract.

Keywords: Cyathea nilgirensis Holttum, Pet-Ether Extract, Preliminary screening, GC-MS Analysis & Antimicrobial Activity.