INVESTIGATION ON SOME PHARMACEUTICAL PROPERTIES OF THE STEM BARK EXTRACT OF PLUMERIA ALBA LINN.

Win Win Khaing*

ABSTRACT

Medicinal plants are the single most productive sources for the development of drugs and play an important role in treating and preventing a variety of diseases through the world. Plumeria alba Linn. commonly known as Tayok Saga - aphyu in Myanmar is one of the medicinal plants belonging to Apocynaceae family. The pharmacological studies were carried out to investigate antimicrobial activity, antioxidant activity, anti-hyperglycemic activity in vitro and acute toxicity in vivo. The main aim of the present research is to evaluate the biological activities of the stem bark of Plumeria alba Linn. Firstly, phytochemical screenings of the stem bark were performed. Three different solvents extracts such as ethanol, n-hexane and water of the stem bark were examined for their antimicrobial activities against Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus pumilus, Candida albicans and E. coli by Agar- well diffusion method. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the active extract was also determined by agar well diffusion method. The antioxidant activity of ethanol extract and aqueous extract was studied by DPPH assay. The glucose lowering activity of the ethanol and aqueous extracts of the stem bark was determined by iodometric titration. Moreover, acute toxicity of ethanol and aqueous extracts of the stem bark on the albino mice was investigated. Elemental composition of the crude sample was examined by ED-XRF (Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence) studies.

Keywords: Acute toxicity, Antimicrobial, Antioxidant, Anti-hyperglycemic, ED-XRF, MIC, Plumeria alba L.