A Comparative Study of Antibacterial Potential of Various Extracts of Different Parts of Jatropha Curcas Linn against Bacterial Strains

Life Sciences-Biochemistry for better diagnosis and therapy

Abstract

Herbal medicines derived from plant extracts are being increasingly  utilized to treat a wide variety of clinical diseases, mainly in developing  countries  for primary  health care because  of better cultural acceptability,  better compatibility  with the human  body and fewer side effects.   Natural medicinal  plants having   various secondary  metabolites  such as flavonoids,  alkaloids,  phenol, terpenoids  etc and these have rich medicinal value such as anti-oxidant and anti- microbial activities.  Since time immemorial, medicinal plants are widely used for the treatment of different infectious diseases. Infectious diseases caused by bacteria strains have a large impact on public health. Now a days multiple  drug resistance  has developed  due to the indiscriminate  use of commercial  anti-microbial  drugs and impairs  the treatment of infectious disease. The present study was focused on the different parts of Jatropha curcas Linn. It belongs to the family Euphorbiaceae , a large deciduous soft wooded shrub 3-4 m in height with sticky juice. The leaf part of the plant is used as galactagogue, lactagogue, rubefacient and have insecticidal properties  and they are useful in foul ulcers, tumors and scabies. Seed of the plant is mainly used for dysentery,  urinary  discharge,  abdominal  complaints  anaemia,  fistula  and diseases  of the heart.  The present  investigation  was carried  out  to study  the antibacterial  activity  and evaluated  for chloroform,  methanol  and diethyl  ether  extracts  of various  parts  of Jatropha  curcas Linn against Escherichia  coli, Staphylococcus  aureus and Aeromonas  species  by disc diffusion  method. Based on the zone of inhibition,  the antibacterial  potential of different parts of the plant viz. leaves, stems and seeds were analysed. The evaluation  of various solvent  extractions  revealed  the effectiveness  of the antibacterial  activity  of the plant.  Among  the various  extracts,  leaves,  stems  and seeds parts of the plant extracted with chloroform  showed maximum  zone of inhibition against all the tested bacterial species followed by methanol and diethyl ether. According to our results, the Jatropha curcas L can be considered  as a rich source of    active compounds with antibacterial activity. This may recommend a new pathway in elucidating a potent natural antibacterial  agent.