Phytochemical and Pharmacological Evaluation of Alternanthera pungens

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to evaluate pharmacognostical and antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory activity of ethanolic leaf extracts of Alternanthera pungens. The collected plants were washed, dried, cut and ground into coarse powder and macerated with ethanol and extract was dried by rotary vacuum. Phytochemical screening of ethanol extract revealed the presence of steroids, flavonoids, saponins, glycoside, phenols, and proteins. However, alkaloids and glycosides were absence in this species. The ethanolic extract of whole plant of A. pungens was subjected to column chromatography to separate pure compounds. Invitro antioxidant activity was performed by 2, 2 -diphenyl- 1- picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay, hydroxy radical scavenging method and superoxide radical scavenging activity. The ethanolic extract of A. pungens was evaluated against antimicrobial activity against two fungal and four bacterial strains. The extracts showed remarkable inhibition of zone of bacterial and results were comparable with that of standard drugs against the organism tested.