Abstract

EXTRACTION OF PHYTOCONSTITUENTS FROM CASTOR LEAVES AND EVALUATION OF ITS ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY

Preeti Aneja*, Rajender Guleria, Yushmita Thakur, Bheema Devi, Shilpa Thakur, Santosh Kumari and Palvi Sharma

.

Abstract

Castor leaf is botanically named as Ricinus communis Linn. belongs to family “Euphorbiaceae”. It is also known as „Eranda‟ in Sanskrit. The castor plant, or Ricinus communis L., is a significant drought-resistant shrub that is widely distributed in the wild and the plant originated from East Africa, and is reasonably priced. Around the world, castor is found in a variety of climate zones, including warm-temperate, tropical, and subtropical climates. The decoction of leaves is a purgative, emmenagogue (an agent that promotes the menstrual discharge). A poultice of the leaves is applied to boils and swellings. The hot leaves are applied over the abdomen of children to relieve flatulence. In women the leaves promote menstrual flow. Extraction of phytoconstituents from castor leaf by using soxhlet apparatus in which methanol is used as a solvent has been done. Evaluation and identification of phytoconstituents by using various test (Alkaloid, glycoside etc) have been performed in laboratory. To investigate the in vitro antibacterial activities of the leaf extract in solvents viz., methanol, extracts of the selected plant Ricinus communis, agar well diffusion method and agar tube dilution method were carried out. Methanol leaf extracts were found to be more active against bacterial strain. Methanolic extracts of Ricinus communis were effective in inhibiting the fungal growthas well. The efficient antibacterial activity of Ricinus communis from the present investigation revealed that the methanol leaf extracts of the selected plant have significant potential to inhibit the growth of pathogenic bacterial strains.

Keywords: Ricinus communis Linn, Phytoconstituents, Emmenagogue, Antibacterial, purgative.