Abstract

DETERMINATION OF BIOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF Alocasia Macrorrhizos: A MEDICINAL PLANT

Shimul Banik, Md. Ibrahim, Mohammad Nurul Amin, Md. Mizanur RahmanMoghal*, Mohammad Sakim Majumder, Md. Khorshed Alam, Shamima NasrinAnonna, Md. Saif Uddin Rashed

Abstract

The present study was designed and conducted to detect possible phytochemicals, and investigate antioxidant, antimicrobial, thrombolytic, cytotoxic and anthelmintic activity of the methanolic extract of Alocasia macrorrhizos and its different fractions. Phytochemical screening was carried out using the standard test methods of different chemical groups. For assessing the antioxidant activity, DPPH free radical scavenging assay was carried out. For the evaluation of in vitro antimicrobial activity, disc diffusion method was used. The method of Prasad et al., 2007 with minor modifications was used to determine the thrombolytic activity. Evaluation of cytotoxic activity was done using the brine shrimp lethality bioassay. And the other study was undertaken to evaluate anthelmintic activity (using Pheretima posthuma model) where piperazine was used as reference standard. The methanolic extracts were a rich source of phytochemicals. It contains moderate DPPH scavenging activity although methanolic extracts showed highest free radical scavenging activity (IC50 value is 47.11 μg/ml) while compared to that of the reference standards ascorbic acid . Morever, the methanolic and carbontetrachloride fraction of extracts revealed good antimicrobial activity at the concentration of 400 μg/disc and petroleum ether fraction and aquous fraction of crude extract shows good antifungal activity. By comparing with the negative control, the mean clot lysis % was significant (p value <0.0009). The methanolic crude extracts also possess cytotoxic principles and have moderate cytotoxic potency. Comparing the value of plant extracts to the standard reveals the Methanolic extract of Alocasia macrorrhizos also shows good anthelmintic activity Therefore, further studies are suggested to determine the active compounds responsible for the biological activities of the plant extracts.

Keywords: Phytochemical, antioxidant, antimicrobial, thrombolytic, anthelmintic, cytotoxic.