Phytochemical Extraction and Antibacterial Studies of Caesalpinia bonducella Seed Extracts

Abstract

Caesalpinia bonducella (Linn.) Flem. is an Indian herb belonging to Family Caesalpiniaceae. The seeds contain an alkaloid caesalpinine, bitter principles such as bonducin, saponins and other oils. In the present study, antibacterial activities of the extracts were studied by agar well diffusion method. C. bonducella seeds were porously powdered mechanically and were subjected to successive sequential soxhlet extraction using petroleum ether, chloroform, ethanol and water as the solvents. The bacterial cultures Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Shigella dysenteriae, Proteus mirabilis, Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecalis were selected for the study. Dry powder of each extract was dissolved in 1 ml of 0.5% DMSO solution to get a concentration of 5, 10, 15 and 20 mg/ml. Each extract was checked for antibacterial activity by introducing 100 μl of each extract into triplicate wells. Controls were maintained with respective solvents. Ciprofloxacin (5 mg/ml) was used as standard antibiotic. Results were subjected to analysis of variance. Chloroform extract have showed good antibacterial activity against Proteus mirabilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa