Articles Accepted

Ziziphus rugosa (Family: Rhamnaceae) is found in semi-evergreen forests of Western Ghats, India. This plant is used in many traditional formulations with different parts reported to be used in the treatment of skin diseases, mouth ulcer, dropsy, boils, diarrhea, tachycardia, syphilis, miscarriage, misconception, flatulence and hysteria. Successive extracts of Z rugosa leaves were prepared using petroleum ether (60-80°C), toluene, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, methanol and water using the soxhlet extraction method. The methanol extract of the leaves was used to prepare alkaloid rich fraction (ARF) as per reported method and the total alkaloid content determined by UV-Vis spectroscopy. The extracts and the ARF were evaluated for antibacterial activity using a panel of gram positive and gram negative strains using ciprofloxacin as the reference standard. HR-LCMS was also performed to identify phytoconstituents present in alkaloid rich fraction. Phytochemical analysis of the extracts indicated the presence of alkaloids, saponins, flavonoids, glycosides, tannins and phenolics. The antimicrobial screening of extracts indicated the extracts to exhibit concentration dependent inhibition of the test bacterial strains. The ARF exhibited the best activity significantly better than the solvent extracts across the selected panel of bacteria. The methanol and aqueous extracts showed moderate activity while the dichloromethane, pet ether and the ethyl acetate extracts were weakly active. The HR-LCMS studies of alkaloid rich fraction indicated the presence of several alkaloids probably identified for the first time in this plant. Meanwhile, extracts/fractions also were revealed to have significant activity against E. coli, B. subtilis, P. aeruginosa, S. aureus, and S. pyogenes . The observed bioactivity and traditional use which warrants detailed investigations on this plant leading to isolation and identification of new actives from this plant of immense traditional utility.