Pseudarthria Viscida Case Study

Ethanobotanical knowledge and antimicrobial activity of
Pseudarthria viscida (L.)Wight & Arn., 1Ahila N*, 1Sindhu, 1Neelamegam R, and 2Siva Nadanam V
1S.T.Hindu College, Nagarcoil- 629 002,
2Lakshmipuram College of Arts and Science, Neyyoor- 629 802, *Correspoding auther email: [e-mail].

Abstract The present work carried out on the ethanobotanical knowledge and antimicrobial activity for the leaf and stem extract of the Pseudarthria viscida (L.)Wight&Arn., Traditionally, this plant is used as cold, skin diseases, fever, headache, wounds and scabies by in an around Kalakad villager. The benzene leaf extracts showed the antibacterial activities against all the testing bacteria such as Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas

viscida were collected from Kalakad villages in Tirunelveli District, Tamilnadu. The plant material was identified by St. Xavier’s college Herbarium (XCH) at Palayamkottai, Tirunelveli. The leaves and stem of P. viscida were a shade dried and powder with the aid of an electronic food processor. The 30 g of fine powdered materials was rolled in a filtered paper and kept in soxhlet apparatus with 250 ml of solvent (Petroleum ether, benzene, chloroform, methanol and Dis.H20 solvent) for the extract preparation at 24 h process. For antibacterial activity studies was carried by Whatman No. 1 filter paper (5 mm diameter) disc diffusion method. The selected pathogenic diluted bacteria (0.5 ml) like Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhii, Streptococcus pyogens, Serratia marcescens, Klebsiella pneumonia, Enterobacter aeruginosa, Proteus vulgaris, Bacillus subtilis culture was spread on sterile Muller Hinton Agar plates. The dried discs were placed on the sealed plates and gently pressed down to assure contact with the medium. Streptomycin 5 mg/ml was used as positive control and respective solvents which were used to dissolve the crude extracts served as negative control. The plates were incubated at room temperature for 24 hrs. After the incubation period the diameter of the inhibition zone around the discs were measured and recorded. Three replicates for each concentration were

Now the extracts from stem and leaf extract of Pseudarthria viscida also exhibited better results against all the pathogens used. Ethanolic and chloroform extract of the stem showed maximum inhibitory activity when compared with other extracts. The zone of inhibition was proved that all the extracts were highly effective against several bacteria. The activity of stem extract was higher when compared with the leaf extract. The present investigation has resulted in a protocol that could be used for ex-situ conservation and true to type mass propagation of this herb of immense pharmaceutical relevance. Moreover, it can be used as an alternative source of drugs in the medicinal field.
Table 1: Antimicrobial activity of leaf and stem extract of Pseudarthria viscida

S.No Name of the Bacteria Petroleum ether Benzene Chloroform Methanol Dis.H20 Control Leaf Stem Leaf Stem Leaf Stem Leaf Stem Leaf Stem
01 Escherichia coli 7 - 10 - 11 - - - - - 10
02 Pseudomonas aeruginosa 8 - 12 - 12 - 18 - - - 9
03 Staphylococcus aureus 6 - 9 - 9 - 12 - - - 4
04 Salmonella typhii - - - 5 5 - 17 - - - 15
05 Streptococcus pyogens 6 4 9 4 10 6 11 6 5 - 12
06 Serratia marcescens 12 - 14 - 17 - 12 - 8 - 7
07 Klebsiella pneumoniae - - 7 - 8 - 8 - - -