Sonika Patwal and Niki Nautiyal*
Traditional knowledge of medicinal plants is showing important and significant value to society. Bombax ceiba is an important medicinal plant of tropical and subtropical India. Its medicinal usage has been reported in the traditional systems of medicine such as Ayurveda, Sidha and Unani. The present study includes the detailed exploration of phytochemical properties, antimicrobial study and antioxidant activity of various extracts of Bombax ceiba in an attempt to provide a direction for further research. Freshly prepared extracts were exposed to standard phytochemical analysis for qualitative estimation of phytoconstituents. Phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of several phytochemicals viz., alkaloids, flavonoids, carbohydrate, steroids, phenol, tannins, saponins, protein, terpenoids and glycosides. Antibacterial activity of successive extracts (Petroleum Ether, Chloroform, Ethyl acetate, Ethanol, distilled water) of flower were carried out against Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli, and Gram-positive bacteria Bacillus subtilis. The testing was done by agar well diffusion method. Result revealed that E.coli was inhibited by Ethanol extracts at the concentration100 µg/ml, 150 µg/ml and the zone of inhibition was found to be 200 µg/ml 4.8 mm, 4.7 mm, 5.2 mm. For the same Ethanolic extract showed a good antibacterial activity against Bacillus subtilis with zone of inhibition of 4.3 mm, 4.8 mm against Bacillus subtilis at concentration of 150 µg/ml and 200 µg/ml. The antioxidant activity was evaluated using DPPH method. Present research suggests that the Bombax ceiba may serve as a good source of natural medicines in future. This might be used diseases.
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