Phytochemical Investigation and Antibacterial Assessment of Iraqi Tropaeolum majus L. Extracts (Ethyl Acetate Fraction)
Author(s): Mazin Saleem Shakir* and Enas Jawad Kadhim
Abstract
Tropaeolum majus has a long history of use as a medicinal plant with a wide range of therapeutic applications. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the antibacterial effect of ethyl acetate fraction of Tropaeolum majus plant against four genera of bacteria (Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus) obtained from nawah scientific center. The antibacterial activity of this plant (0.0003, 0.0007, 0.0015, 0.003, 0.006, 0.012, 0.025, 0.05, 0.1 and 0.2 mg/ml) were evaluated using broth macro dilution method (methods for dilution antimicrobial susceptibility tests for bacteria that grow aerobically) and the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) values of tested ethyl acetate extract were found from 0.025 to 0.05 mg/ml. Preliminary phytochemical investigation of Tropaeolum majus leaves extract revealed the presence of different chemical constituents like alkaloids, glycosides, tannins, terpenoids, phenols and flavonoids, while for ethyl acetate fraction indicated the presence of glycosides, tannins, phenols and flavonoids. Analysis of ethyl acetate fraction by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) showed the presence of four phenolic compounds in the ethyl acetate fraction using (gallic acid, p-coumaric, chlorogenic acid and rutin) as standards. In conclusion, the presence and diversity of secondary metabolites may be responsible for the observed antibacterial activity.