Acacia catechu Willd

1. Journal of Pharmacy Research Vol.3.Issue 11.November 2010
Gulzar A. et al. / Journal of Pharmacy Research 2010, 3(11),2583-2584
2583-2584
Research Article
ISSN: 0974-6943 Available online through
www.jpronline.info
*Corresponding author.
Gulzar Alam
Kailash Institute of Pharmacy & Management,
Gorakhpur, Utter Pradesh,(India)
Tel.: + 91-9696571822
E-mail:gulzar_alam@rediffmail.com
INTRODUCTION
Acacia catechu Willd. (AC) (Family: Fabaceae and subfamily: Mimosoideae)
known as Black Khair. AC is commercially used to obtain Katha (a concentrated
filtered extract) in North India. It is found widely distributed in Jammu, Punjab,
Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Andra Pradesh and
Orrissa. AC grows slowly and matures to a height of about 12-15 meters. The
species gets full foliage by June-July when it paints the environment and land-
scape so very beautifully. The leaves of AC are compound. The rachis branching
from the mid-rib has 4 to 5 round prickles. The rachis is nearly 10 to 20 cm long
and bears 20 to 60 pinnae each about 3 to 4 cm long. The tree flowers during
June to October. Its inflorescence is pale yellow to cream colored. The fruit of
is pod shaped. It is 5 to 7 cm long and 1 to 1.5 cm wide and shining brown in
color. The sap wood of is large and yellowish white and heart wood is small and
red in color. AC is useful in stomach problems like diarrhea, dysentery, colitis
and gastric cancer. AC is used as mouthwash for mouth, gum and throat diseases
like gingivitis, stomatitis. Cutch and katha is cooling, digestive and a very
valuable astringent, especially in chronic diarrhea and dysentery, bleeding piles,
uterine haemorrhages, leucorrhoea, gleet, atonic dyspepsia, chronic bronchitis,
etc. The decoction of bark mixed with milk is taken to cure cold and cough [1-5]
.
The extracts of AC have been reported to have various pharmacological effects
like antipyretic, anti-inflammatory, antidiarrhoeal, hypoglycaemic,
hepatoprotective, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities [1, 3-7]
. Main chemical
constituents of Acacia catechu Willd are catechin, (-) epicatechin,
epigallocatechin, epicatechin gallate, epigallocatechin gallete rocatechin, phlo-
roglucin, protocatechuic acid, quercetin, poriferasterol glucosides, poriferasterol
acyglucosides, lupenone, lupeol, procyanidin AC, kaempferol, dihydrokaemferol,
taxifolin, (+)-afzelchin gum and mineral [3,8-14]
.
An extensive search of the literature reveals no reports on the antimicrobial
activity of AC leaves extract of the plant. Therefore an attempt was made to
study the various phytochemical groups and antimicrobial potential of AC
leaves extract against common human pathogenic organisms.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Plant material
The leaves of AC was collected from Village Bageha, District Chitrakoot
Preliminary phytochemical and antimicrobial screening of leaves extract of Acacia catechu
Willd
Gulzar A.1
*., Manjul P. S.1
, Anita S.1
, Upendra K. 1
, Yatendra K. 2
1
Kailash Institute of Pharmacy & Management, Gorakhpur, Utter Pradesh,,(India)
2
ITS Paramedical (Pharmacy) College, Muradnagar, Ghaziabad, Utter Pradesh,,(India)
Received on: 15-06-2010; Revised on: 18-08-2010; Accepted on:13-09-2010
ABSTRACT
Key words: : Acacia catechu Willd., Preliminary phytochemical & antimicrobial screening.
(U.P.), was authenticated by the plant taxonomist Dr. A.K. Sharma, Dept. of
Botany, M.M.P.G. College, Modinagar (U.P.). A voucher specimen was deposited
at the Dept. of Botany, M.M.P.G. College, Modinagar (U.P.). After authentica-
tion, fresh plant material (Leaves) was collected in bulk, washed under running
tap water to remove adhering material, dried under shade and pulverized in a
mechanical grinder. The coarse powder was pass through sieve no. 40.
Preparation of plant Extracts
The extraction of 1 kg dried coarse powder of the AC leaves was carried out by
cold maceration process using with petroleum ether (60-80o
C), ethanol and
ethanol: water (1:1) respectively for 7 days each. The petroleum ether (60-
80o
C), ethanol and ethanol: water (1:1) extracts were then filtered through
muslin cloth and whatmann filter paper. The filtrates were concentrated under
reduced pressure to obtain residues.
Phytochemical Analysis
Preliminary phytochemical screening of the leaves extracts of AC was per-
formed as per standard procedure [15, 16]
. which revealed that the presence of
carbohydrates, steroids, alkaloids, glycosides, tannins, saponins, flavones, and
phenolic compounds.
Test microorganisms
Pathogenic bacteria strains like Staphylococcus aureus (Gram positive), Es-
cherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Salmo-
nella typhi (Gram negative) and fungi like Candida albicans, Aspergillus niger
were used for the screening of antimicrobial activity.
Antimicrobial screening
The antimicrobial activities of plant extract i.e. petroleum ether extract, ethanolic
extract and ethanol:water(1:1) extract were determined at different concentra-
tion (25µg/ml, 50µg/ml and 100µg/ml in dimethyl sulfoxide) against microbes
by agar diffusion technique using a paper disc. Microbial cultures were firmly
sweeped over the agar (nutrient agar medium) plate using sterile cotton swab to
make uniform culture lawns. The saturated disc of different concentration of
test compounds was placed on agar plates. Allowed the plates to stand at room
temperature for 30 minute (pre-incubation). Inoculated plates were incubated at
37°C for 24 hr and 48hr for antibacterial and antifungal activities respectively.
The inhibition zones were recorded with the help scale the result is summarized
in Table 1. Amikacin (30µg/disc) and Ketoconazole (10µg/disc) was used as
standard for antibacterial and antifungal activity respectively. Sterile dimethyl
sulfoxide without plant extracts served as negative control [17, 18]
.
Acacia catechu Willd. (AC) is a potent medicinal plant in the traditional Indian medicinal systems. Preliminary phytochemical and antimicrobial investigations
were carried out of the crude extract obtained from the leaves of AC. The presence of carbohydrates, steroids, alkaloids, glycosides, tannins, saponins, flavones,
and phenolic compounds was indicated by the tests conducted. Antimicrobial activity of petroleum ether, ethanolic and ethanol:water (1:1) extracts of leaves of
AC was evaluated by disc diffusion method against some pathogenic fungi and gram positive and negative bacteria. The Inhibition Zone Diameters of extracts were
compared with standard Ketoconazole (10µg/disc) and Amikacin (30µg/disc) for antibacterial and antifungal activity respectively. Ethanolic extract was found to
possess the broadest and potent antimicrobial activity and petroleum ether extract was found to be least active, while ethanol:water(1:1) extract playing an
intermediate role.

2. Journal of Pharmacy Research Vol.3.Issue 11.November 2010
Gulzar A. et al. / Journal of Pharmacy Research 2010, 3(11),2583-2584
2583-2584
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The antimicrobial activity of the extracts at different concentration was deter-
mined. All the three extracts at different concentration exhibited antibacterial
activity against all bacterial strains tested and antifungal activity against all
fungal strain tested. Ethanolic extract exhibited comparably a high degree of
activity than the other extracts (petroleum ether extract, ethanol:water(1:1)
extract).In the present antimicrobial screening, ethanolic extract was found to
possess the broadest and potent antimicrobial activity and petroleum ether
extract was found to be least active, while ethanol:water(1:1) extract playing an
intermediate role.
CONCLUSION
From the results, it can be concluded that the Acacia catechu Willd leaves
extracts find use as broad-spectrum antimicrobial agent after extensive investi-
Extract Conc. Zone of inhibition (in mm)
B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 F1 F2
Petroleum ether extract 25µg/ml 09 12 08 08 09 09 10
50µg/ml 15 14 09 10 12 11 12
100µg/ml 16 15 10 11 13 12 11
Ethanolic extract 25µg/ml 10 11 09 10 10 10 11
50µg/ml 13 12 10 11 13 13 14
100µg/ml 15 18 11 15 17 16 15
Ethanol:water (1:1) extract 25µg/ml 07 08 08 09 08 09 08
50µg/ml 12 11 10 11 12 11 10
100µg/ml 15 14 11 16 14 12 13
Amikacin 30µg/disc 22 22 22 22 22 —- —-
Ketoconazole 10µg/disc —- —- —- —- —- 24 24
Blank (DMSO) ——- —- —- —- —- —- —- —-
Table 1 : Antimicrobial Activity of the Leaves Extracts of Acacia catechu
Willd.
B1= Escherichiacoli, B2=Staphylococcus aureus, B3=Pseudomonas aeruginosa,
B4=Klebsiella pneumoniae, B5=Salmonella typhi, F1=Candida albicans,
F2=Aspergillus niger.
0
5
10
15
20
25
E.coli
S.aureus
P.aeruginosa
K.pnem
oniae
S.typhi
Ext 1 (25µg/ml)
Ext 1 (50µg/ml)
Ext 1 (100µg/ml)
Amikacin 30µg/disc
Ext 2 (25µg/ml)
Ext 2 (50µg/ml)
Ext 2 (100µg/ml)
Amikacin 30µg/disc
Ext 3 (25µg/ml)
Ext 3 (50µg/ml)
Ext 3 (100µg/ml)
Amikacin 30µg/disc
Graph 1: Antibacterial Activity of the Leaves Extracts ofAcacia catechu
Willd.
0
5
10
15
20
25
C.albicans
A.niger
Ext 1 (25µg/ml)
Ext 1 (50µg/ml)
Ext 1 (100µg/ml)
Ketoconazole 10µg/disc
Ext 2 (25µg/ml)
Ext 2 (50µg/ml)
Ext 2 (100µg/ml)
Ketoconazole 10µg/disc
Ext 3 (25µg/ml)
Ext 3 (50µg/ml)
Ext 3 (100µg/ml)
Ketoconazole 10µg/disc
Graph 2: Antifungal Activity of the Leaves Extracts of Acacia catechu
Willd.
gation. Further work will emphasize the isolation and characterization of active
principles responsible for antimicrobial activity of leaves extracts of Acacia
catechu Willd.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors are thankful to I.T.S. Paramedical College, Muradnagar, Ghaziabad
(U.P.), for providing bacterial strains like Staphylococcus aureus (Gram posi-
tive), Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Gram negative). I would like
to place special thanks to I.T.S. Dental College, Muradnagar, Ghaziabad (U.P.),
for providing bacterial strains like Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Salmonella
typhi (Gram negative) and fungi like Candida albicansand Aspergillus niger as
a gift sample for my research work. I would like to express my deepest gratitude
to Dr. Y. Kumar, Director, I.T.S. Paramedical College, Muradnagar, Ghaziabad
(U.P.), for providing me necessary facilities for carrying out research work.
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Source of support: Nil, Conflict of interest: None Declared
The ethanolic extract was most effective againstStaphylococcus aureus (Gram
positive bacteria) with diameter of zone of inhibition 18.0mm (conc. 100µg/
ml) and was least effective against Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Gram negative
bacteria) with diameter of zone of inhibition 11.0mm (conc. 100µg/ml). Amongst
the Gram negative bacteria, the ethanolic extract showed highest activity against
Salmonella typhi with diameter of zone of inhibition 17.0 mm. The ethanolic
extract showed significant antifungal activity against Candida albicans with
diameter of zone of inhibition 16.0mm (conc. 100µg/ml) and Aspergillus niger
with diameter of zone of inhibition 15.0mm (conc. 100µg/ml).Phytochemical
studies on AC leaves revealed the presence of carbohydrates, steroids, alkaloids,
glycosides, tannins, saponins, flavones, and phenolic compounds. The antimi-
crobial activity of AC may be due to one/more group of above phytoconstituent
(s).