Abstract

SCREENING OF TRACE METALS AND SECONDARY METABOLITES FROM Cajanus Cajan (L.) Mill sp. AND STUDY THEIR ANTIMICROBIAL EFFICACY

T. Vidhya Anandhi and S. Ahmed John*

Abstract

The present study focused on the Phytochemical constituents, trace metals concentrations, and antimicrobial activity of ethanolic extract of Cajanus cajan leaves were investigated. The plant leaves which were collected from the Tiruchirappalli district, southern India. The identification of secondary metabolites revealed the presence of the bioactive compounds, such as steroids, sugars, alkaloids, phenol, flavonoids, tannins, glycoside and amino acids. Likewise, the primary metabolites such as chlorophylls contents, carbohydrate, proteins and lipids were also presented in the ethanolic extract of C. cajan leaves. The antimicrobial sensitivity against C. cajan using the disc diffusion method. The ethanol extracts of the plant leaves exhibited the higher zone of inhibition against bacterial strains than fungal strains. The trace metal concentrations were analyzed form the powered plant leaves by 797 VA Computrace voltametry, Metrohm. The average concentrations of Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb and Zn were below detectablelimit (BDL), BDL, 0.06, 0.42, BDL, BDL and 0.33 mg kg-1, respectively. The bioactive secondary metabolites were responsible for these antimicrobial activities.

Keywords: Cajanus cajan, Antimicrobial efficacy, Photochemistry, Trace metals.