Phytochemical and Pharmacological Investigations of Coccinia cordifolia

Abstract

The study was designed for phytochemical investigation of methanol extract of the whole plant of Coccinia cordifolia (Family: Cucurbitaceae) and screening of their biological activities like antimicrobial cytotoxic or other activities. The powdered whole plant part of Coccinia cordifolia was extracted with methanol. The concentrated extract was then partitioned with n-hexane, chloroform and methanol. All fractions for Bacillus sereus is showing the low antimicrobial activity and the growth of Gram (+ve) bacteria for Bacillus sereus is not inhibited properly. But for the S. aureus the methanol fraction shows activity where the diameter of zone of inhibition is 14.75 mm. The Gram (-ve) bacteria Escherichia coli and Shigella boydii are also not inhibited by the fractions but for V. mimicus the N- hexane fraction shows activity where the diameter of zone of inhibition is 12.75 mm. Methanolic extract of stem bark and different fractions was screened for cytotoxic properties using brine shrimp lethality bioassay where Vincristine sulfate LC50 value 0.323 g/ml was used as a positive control. From the results of the brine shrimp lethality bioassay, it can be predicted that the crude extract and Dichloromethane (DCM), N-Hexane (NHE), Ethyl acetate (EAE), Methanol (MEL) fractions of methanolic extract possess cytotoxic principles and have considerable cytotoxic potency having LC50 values to be 0.041g/ml, 0.063 g/ml, 0.14 g/ml and 0.36 g/ml respectively. The degree of lethality of brine shrimp increases in a dose dependent manner. From the results of the brine shrimp lethality bioassays it can be well predicted that the chloroform fraction of metabolic crude extracts possess cytotoxic principles and have considerable cytotoxic potency. with positive control vincristine signifies that cytotoxicity exhibited by the crude extracts and further bioactivity guided investigation can be done to find out potent antitumor and pesticidal compounds. The plant extract contain phenolic content. From the results of the total phenolic test it can be predicted that the crude extract of Dichloromethane (DCM), N-Hexane (NHE), Ethyl acetate 6 (EAE), Methanol (MEL) fractions contain 26.50 mg GAE/g, 27.02 mg GAE/g, 8.40 mg GAE/g and 11.24 mg GAE/g respectively. Different fraction of Coccinia cordifolia is subjected to free radical scavenging activity developed by the method of Brand-Williams. Here, tert-butyl-1-hydroxytoluene (BHT) was used as reference standard. The IC50 value found for Dichloromethane (DCM), N-Hexane (NHE), Ethyl acetate (EAE), Methanol (MEL) fractions are 4.81μg/ml, 6.20μg/ml, 2.34 μg/ml and 2.07 μg/ml respectively.