Comparative Phytochemical Screening and Antibacterial Activity of Tapinanthus globiferus (Mistletoe) Growing on Azadirachta indica, Olea europaea and Albezia chevelleri

Abstract

Tapinanthus globiferus is mistletoe which grows on many plants. Mistletoes have been used in traditional medicine for treatment of diseases. Their extracts have been reported to demonstrated potent biological activities. Tapinanthus globiferus from Azadirachta indica, Olea europaea and Albezia chevelleri were extracted with the aid of a soxhlet extractor using n-hexane and methanol. The extracts were screened for the presence of phytochemicals using standard procedures. The antibacterial activity of the extracts were evaluated against gram positive (S. aureus and B. subtillis) and Gram negative (E. coli and P. aeruginosa) bacterial isolates using agar diffusion method. The preliminary phytochemical screening revealed the presence of saponins, tannins, flavonoids and cardiac glycosides in all the three samples. Anthraquinones were absent in all three samples. Alkaloid was found to be present in Tapinanthus gloiferus growing on Azadirachta indica. The susceptibility test of the methanol extracts showed zone of inhibition with the range of 8-20 mm. The hexane extracts did not show any activity. The result of the MIC (minimum inhibition concentration) of the methanol extract was 7.5 mg/mL and the MBC (minimum bactericidal concentration) was 15 mg/mL. The result of this study indicates a little difference in the chemical composition of various Tapinanthus globiferus growing on each of the plants. This may be attributed to the fact that the chemistry Tapinanthus globiferus depends on the host plant. Since they grow on different host plants, they may contain slightly different chemical constituents. The antibacterial activity demonstrated may be due to the presence of these phyochemicals.