Mintage Journal of Pharmaceutical and Medical Sciences (ISSN: 2320-3315)

Author(s): SATYA PRASAD M, SUMAN JOSHI DSD, NARENDRA K, SRINIVAS K, SRILAKSHMI BAI J, LAKSHMI CHANDANA M, KRISHNA SATYA A*

Objective:Plantsare the most important sources of medicines. Now a day the large number of drugs in use is derived from plants. The important advantages for therapeutic uses of medicinal plants in various ailments are their safety besides being effective, economical and easy availability. The present study investigates the phytochemical, and phrmacological activity of two medicinal plants Acalypha indicaL., Croton bonplandianum BAILLMethods:Leavesof two plants from the family Euphorbiaceae -werecollected, dried and powdered. The powdered material is subjected to soxhlet extraction using various solvents and allowed to evaporation. The crude extracts thus obtained were used for further investigation of phytochemicals, invitro antioxidant and antimicrobial  activity of  aqueous, methanol and  chloroform extracts from euphorbiaceae plants-Acalypha indicaL., Croton bonplandianum BAILL. leaves.Results:The phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of carbohydrates, amino acids, proteins, tannins, flavanoids, anthrocyanins and β-cyanins, quinones, glycosides and  phenols  in  aqueous,  methanol and  chloroform  extracts.  Terpenoids  and  coumarins    are  present  in  aqueous  and  methanol extracts  and  absent  in  chloroform  extracts. Alkaloids present only in the chloroform extract. Quantitative analysis demonstrated thatpresence of high concentration of proteins, sugars, phenol and tannins in methanol extracts of screened plants. The antioxidant activity of the extracts was evaluated by DPPH Radical Scavenging Assay. The antioxidant activity was compared with standardantioxidant  such  as  ascorbic  acid.    All  the  extracts  showed  significant  antioxidant activity. Methanol extract  of Acalypha  indicaL.  has  high  antioxidant  activity  and  low  IC50 value. The plant preparations were also screened individually for antimicrobial activity against three gram negative (E.coli,  S.typimurium, S,paratypi) and three gram positive (S.epidermis, B.subtilis, S.aureus) organisms by disc diffusion method.Conclusion:Resultsshowed that allthe extracts were effective against both gram positive and gram negative organisms. The methanol extracts of Acalypha indicaL. shows more effectiveness than the other extracts against bacterial species tested