Phytochemical Analysis and Some Bioactivities of Leaves and Fruits of Myrsine africana Linn

摘要

Myrsine africana is a medicinal plant which belongs to the family Myrsinaceae and has been used as an appetizer, carminativeand anthelmintic. This study was conducted to evaluate the cytotoxic, antitumor, antimicrobial and antioxidant properties offruit and leaf methanolic and chloroform extracts of M. africana as well as the quantitative phytochemical assessment. Leavesand fruits were collected randomly from M. Africana plants growing at Margallah Hills, Islamabad, Pakistan. Samples wereshade-dried for further extraction. Methanol extract of both leaf and fruit performed better results than chloroform extract interms of all activities (i.e., antioxidant, cytotoxic, antitumor and antimicrobial. Fruits extract exhibited cytotoxicity with 100%mortality, while leaves exhibited 33.33% mortality of brine shrimp at 1000 μgmL−1. Similarly, tumor inhibition of potatodisk exhibited by methanol extract of fruit and leaves was 82.22% and 53.70%, respectively, at 1000 μgmL−1. Fruit extractshave shown remarkable antibacterial and antifungal activity, with maximum percentage observed against Staphylococcusepidermidis and Klebsiella pneumonia (83.05 and 69.98) at 25 mgmL−1, respectively, while leaves have shown 30.94%and 28.51%, respectively. Maximum antifungal inhibition was observed in methanol extract of both fruit and leaves againstAlternaria alternata (83.64%) at 25 mgmL−1. A percentage of 66.48 and 52.47 radical scavenging activity was observedagainst DPPH assay by methanolic fruit and leave extract, respectively, at 250 μgmL−1. Similarly, an absorbance range of0.986–0.207 nm and 0.402–0.014 nm was shown by methanolic fruit and leaves extract, respectively, against phosphomolybdateassay. Phytochemicals such as terpenoids, steroids, flavonoids, carbohydrates, tannins and saponins were presentqualitatively in all tested extracts. Fruit and leaf extracts contain total phenolics (0.137 mgg~(−1) and 0.089 mgg~(−1)), flavonoids(20 mgg~(−1) and 12.5 mgg~(−1)) and saponins (140 mgg~(−1) and 66 mgg~(−1)), respectively. Selected phytochemical properties suchas flavonoids, phenolic, terpenoids, steroids and saponins are major bioactive components considered vital sources for thetreatment of destructive disease. In the view of obtained results, we conclude that fruit extracts of M. Africana have betterpharmacological properties than leaf extracts. Further studies are in progress toward identification and characterization ofchemical compounds.