Production of cardio-active substances by plant tissue cultures and their screening for cardiovascular activity

Antimicrobial activity of terpenoids from Trichodesma amplexicaule Roth

T. amplexicaule Roth. has been investigated phytochemically for biologically active constituents from the benzene extract. This yielded a mixture of terpenoids: beta-sitosterol, alpha-amyrin, lupeol, hexacosanoic acid, ceryl alcohol and hexacosane. The sequential extracts, isolated terpenoids and reference antibiotics were screened for their possible bioactivities against selected pathogenic bacteria, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and fungi, Aspergillus flavus and Penicillium chrysogenum etc. Out of the sequential extracts, the benzene extract was more potent against S. aureus (IZ = 10.36) and R. phaseoli (IZ = 10.69). The inhibition zones of isolated terpenoids were also recorded and the activity index was calculated and it was found that hexacosane was more active (IZ = 13.39) against E. coli and hexacosanoic acid had greater activity against A. flavus (IZ = 11.56). The present study deals with antimicrobial screening of sequential extracts and isolated terpenoids.

Anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activities of triterpenoids from Strobilanthes callosus nees

The anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activities of the 95% ethanol extract, benzene fraction and isolated triterpenoids of Strobilanthes callosus were investigated. In the carrageenan-induced paw edema inflammation model, the taraxerol showed a high reduction of edema, but the antimicrobial effect observed was lower at the two doses employed. These results confirm the use of this plant in folk medicine as an anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial herbal drug.

Estimation of triterpenoids fromHeliotropium marifolium Koen. ex Retz.in vivo andin vitro. I. Antimicrobial screening

The hexane extract of Heliotropium marifolium yielded a mixture of triterpenoids: beta-sitosterol, stigmasterol, beta-amyrin, friedelan-3beta-ol (epifriedelenol), cycloartenone, beta-amyrin acetate, friedelin and epifriedenyl acetate. Isolated triterpenoid and reference antibiotics (gentamycin/mycostatin) were tested against selected pathogenic bacteria and fungi, e.g. Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Aspergillus niger and Penicillium chrysogenum. The inhibition zone (IZ) and the activity index (AI) of isolated compounds were recorded and it was found that epifriedenyl acetate (IZ = 17; AI = 1.06) was the most active. The present study deals with the quantification and assessment of their growth inhibitory potency. It has been reported that cycloartenone was the major triterpenoid in both in vivo (0.54%) and in vitro (0.11%) cell cultures.