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Pak. J. Bot., 47(SI): 293-299, 2015.

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EX-VIVO ANTIBACTERIAL, PHYTOTOXIC AND CYTOTOXIC, POTENTIAL IN THE CRUDE NATURAL PHYTOCONSTITUENTS OF RUMEX HASTATUS D. DON

ZUL KAMAL^*1, MIDRARULLAH², SAJJAD AHMAD³, FARHAT ULLAH³, ABDUL SADIQ³,

 MUHAMMAD AYAZ³, ANWAR ZEB³ AND MUHAMMAD IMRAN³

¹Department of Pharmacy, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University, Sheringal, Dir, Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, Pakistan

²Department of Biotechnology, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University, Sheringal, Dir, Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, Pakistan

³Department of Pharmacy, University of Malakand, Chakdara, Dir Lower, Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, Pakistan

^*Corresponding author’s e-mail: xulkamal@sbbu.edu.pk

Abstract: In the present study the crude saponins, crude methanolic extract and subsequent fractions of Rumex hastatus have been evaluated for the cytotoxic potential against brine shrimps and phytotoxic potential against radish. In addition, the antibacterial activity has been evaluated for crude flavonoids (Rh.Fl), saponins (Rh.Sp), crude methanolic extract (Rh.Cr) and resultant fractions of R. hastatus by well diffusion method. In antibacterial assay, the Rh.Fl displayed considerably better activity against all the strains followed by Rh.Sp, which was comparable with positive control. Among the fractions the ethyl acetate (Rh.EaF) and chloroform fractions (Rh.CfF) revealed good zones of inhibition (ZOI). All the test samples were active against Proteus mirabilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The largest ZOI was revealed by Rh.Fl i.e., 34.8 ± 0.72 mm ZOI against Bacillus cereus. The Rh.Sp was more active against Escherichia coli resulting in 34.1 ± 0.49mm ZOI. Similarly against brine shrimps, the Rh.Sp fractions show excellent cytotoxic i.e., 96.76 ± 1.1, 73.86 ± 2.9 and 50.67 ± 1.9% brine shrimps lethality at the concentration of 1000, 100 and 10µg/ml, respectively with the LC₅₀ of 10µg/ml. Among the fractions, Rh.CfF showed remarkable cytotoxicity with LC₅₀ of 65µg/ml. Rh.EaF and Rh.Cr displayed the similar lethality with LC₅₀ of 90µg/ml. The cytotoxicity exhibited by aqueous fraction (Rh.Wtf) and n-hexane fraction (Rh.HxF) was moderate with LC₅₀ of 100µg/ml and 390µg/ml, respectively. The phytotoxicity assay was conducted against radish seeds in which the Rh.Sp exhibited remarkable phytotoxicity i.e., root length inhibition (RLI) (IC₅₀= 9µg/ml) and seeds germination inhibitions (SGI) (IC₅₀= 15µg/ml) which was comparable with the Paraquat act as positive control. Among the fractions Rh.CfF demonstrated outstanding phytotoxic activity i.e., 86.63 ± 0.80, 67.10 ± 1.10 and 45.90 ± 2.90% (IC₅₀ = 23 µg/ml) RLI and 78.68 ± 1.33, 69.92 ± 0.50 and 54.70 ± 1.20% (IC₅₀ = 5µg/ml) SGI at the concentration of 1000, 100 and 10 µg/ml respectively. Rh.EaF demonstrated 85.42 ± 0.20, 63.00 ± 1.90 and 41.33 ± 1.10% (IC₅₀ = 32µg/ml) RLI and 72.00 ± 2.32, 63.76 ± 1.10 and 49.70 ± 1.10% (IC₅₀ = 13µg/ml) SGI at 1000, 100 and 10 µg/ml respectively. The Rh.HxF revealed 82.59 ± 3.20, 61.33 ± 1.90 and 39.33 ± 1.10% (IC₅₀ = 35µg/ml) RLI and 68.00 ± 2.32, 57.53 ± 0.70 and 36.20 ± 0.90% (IC₅₀ = 46 µg/ml) SGI at 1000, 100 and 10 µg/ml respectively. The Rh.Cr and Rh.WtF showed moderate phytotoxicity. Based on the results obtained from the present study it may be inferred that R. hastatus may be an excellent source of natural compounds having antibacterial, anticancer and herbicidal potential.

Key words: Rumex hastatus, Cytotoxicity, Phytotoxicity, Antibacterial activity, Saponins, Flavonoids