Abstract

STUDY OF ANTIBACTERIAL AND ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY OF NERIUM OLEANDER FLOWER EXTRACT AND ITS PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING

Sachin Annasaheb Nitave* and Vishin Ashish Patil

Abstract

Nerium oleander belongs to family Apocyanaceae. The objective of the present work was to identify the phytochemical constituents and to study of antibacterial and antifungal activity of extract of Nerium oleander flower. Recently, natural products have been evaluated as sources of antimicrobial and antifungal agents with efficacies against a variety of microorganisms. Present study was designed to evaluate the antibacterial and antifungal activity of Nerium oleander flower against human pathogens. The extract was prepared using ethanol. Antimicrobial activity was tested against one gram positive bacteria and three gram negative bacteria while antifungal activity was tested against two fungi. The various concentrations (30, 60, 100mg/ml) of the ethanolic extract were tested. Evaluations were based on the zone of inhibition using Agar well diffusion assay. The inhibitory activity was found to be dose dependent. This study represents that ethanol extracts of flower of Nerium oleander may be utilize as a potential source of antimicrobial and antifungal agents. Ciprofloxacin (10μg/ml) used as standard for antibacterial activity while fluconazole (10μg/ml) used as standard for antifungal activity. The phytochemical investigation showed the presence of active chemical constituents such as alkaloids, tannins, flavanoids, steroids, cardiac glycosides and terpenoids, carbohydrates, amino acids, proteins, triterpenoids.

Keywords: Nerium oleander, Antibacterial, Antifungal, Phytochemicals, Extraction.