Preliminary phytochemical and in vitro - antimicrobial analysis of Annona squamosa linn. Leaf extract

Abstract

The present study was undertaken to evaluate the preliminary phytochemicalconstitution and in vitro-antimicrobial activity of Annona squamosa Linn. leaf extract. Preliminary phytochemical screening of the freshly prepared plant leaf extract showed the presence of alkaloids, tannins, saponins, flavonoids, glycosides, phenolic compounds, terpenoids and steroids. The in vitro-antimicrobial activity of the successive leaf extracts of Annona squamosa Linn. was studied in petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate, acetone, ethanol, methanol and water, against various gram positive & gram negative bacterial strains using zone of inhibition. Both Agar well diffusion method & Agar disc diffusion method were used to evaluate the antibacterial efficacy. The Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of all these solvent extracts of said plant was determined by Agar well diffusion method. The reference antibiotics Chloramphenicol & Ampicillin (Antibacterial); Nystatin & Clotrimazole (Antifungal) were also tested against these standard microorganisms used in the assay and the results were compared with that of the plant extracts. The in vitro-antimicrobial activity study showed that all the seven successive extracts of the leaf powder of Annona squamosa Linn., exhibited prominent antimicrobial and antifungal activity against all microorganisms used in the study. Highly polar solvents ie. ethanol, methanol and water showed the most significant antibacterial and antifungal activity against all tested organisms. The results of the study revealed that the leaf powder of Annona squamosa Linn. can be considered as a possiblesource of various phytochemical constituents having an invitro antimicrobial potential.