Withania Somnifera Report

THE EFFICACY OF WITHANIA SOMNIFERA AGAINST
Robert Glover

Table of Contents

Introduction 3
Method 4
Aseptic Technique 4
Sample Preparation 4
Extract Preparation 4
Disc Diffusion 5
Ethics 7
Results 8
References 9

Introduction

Withania Somnifera is a plant with much potential, but is it most effective at inhibiting E-Coli and Staphylococcus aureus when in a solvent of Methanol or Ethyl acetate.
This could assist in preventing and curing diseases caused by these bacteria, namely cholecystitis, bacteremia, cholangitis, urinary tract infection, and traveler 's diarrhea

Method

Aseptic Technique
• Ensure Methanol does not come in contact with your skin as it is toxic
• Use alcohol and a Bunsen burner to destroy any contaminants on

Divide the mixture into equal halves of 25g weighed using an electronic scale to ensure accuracy, using a different crucible
9. Place the equally divided mixtures next to one another in separate 5L conical flasks
10. Label each conical flask according to the solvent which will be added with a permanent marker, Ethyl acetate and

Then carefully measure 25ml of methanol and 25ml of ethyl acetate using a measuring beaker
12. Pour each solvent into its respective labelled mortar
13. Stir each sample for 10 minutes using a stirring rod
14. Leave solutions in the sun for 12 hours, this is to allow for the active ingredients bond with the solvent and form a solution and to allow some of the Methanol and Ethyl acetate to evaporate.
15. Add another 25cm3 of Methanol and Ethyl acetate to the solutions. Stir gently for 20 minutes using a stirring rod this is to allow more of the active ingredients to mix with the solution.
16. Take two funnels and place one in two separate clean measuring beakers making sure the bottoms of the funnels don’t touch the bottom of the measuring beakers. Take two pieces of filter paper and press one onto each funnel.
17. Carefully pour the solutions onto the filter paper, making sure there are no tears in the filter paper.
18. Wait for the solutions to be filtered, then take the extracts and repeat the filtration process in new, clean measuring beakers. This is done to remove small solids that may have passed through the first filtration process and could impact on the accuracy of the