Academic Sciences

International Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

ISSN- 0975-1491

Vol 5, Issue 3, 2013

Research Article

PHYTOCONSTITUENT SCREENING AND COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENT OF ANTIMICROBIAL

POTENTIALITY OF ARTOCARPUS ALTILIS FRUIT EXTRACTS
CHINMAY PRADHAN1, MONALISA MOHANTY *2, ABHIJEETA ROUT3, ANATH BANDHU DAS4, KUNJA BIHARI
SATAPATHY1 AND HEMANTA KUMAR PATRA2
1Laboratory

of Microbial Biotechnology, 2Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, Post Graduate Department of Botany, Utkal
University, Bhubaneswar-751004, 3Laboratory of Microbiology, College of Basic Science and Humanities, 4Division of Biotechnology,
Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar-751003, Odisha, India. Email: 18.monalisa@gmail.com
Received: 05 May 2013, Revised and Accepted: 12 Jun 2013

ABSTRACT
The present study aims at bioefficacy assessment and phytoconstituent screening of Atrocarpus altilis (breadfruit) fruit extracts in different solvents
(methanol and ethyl acetate) for antimicrobial activity. The antimicrobial potentiality of plant fruit extracts obtained in different solvent media
(methanol and ethyl acetate) were studied against various pathogenic organisms like Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Streptococcus
mutans and Enterococcus faecalis. Methanolic and ethyl acetate fruit extracts of Artocarpus exhibits the presence of only three phytochemicals viz.
steroids, phenols and flavonoids. The MIC values of ethyl acetate and methanolic fruit extracts for microbes were determined by agar disc diffusion
method which showed significant variation. Streptococcus mutans and Enterococcus faecalis showed maximum growth inhibition using 25 l of
methanolic fruit extracts with a MIC value of 0.90 and 0.6 mg/ml respectively. Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa showed
maximum zone of inhibition using 25 l of ethyl acetate fruit extract with a MIC value of 0.90 mg/ml for both. Methanolic fruit extract had no effect
on growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and ethyl acetate fruit extract had negligible effect on growth of Streptococcus mutans. The fruit extracts of
Artocarpus altilis has immense potentiality for antibacterial activities as evident from the phytochemical and MIC study. Further purification of the
secondary metabolites and structural studies can aid in isolation of active compounds from this plant.
Keywords:Artocarpus; Antimicrobial activity; Fruit extract; Pathogens; Phytochemicals; MIC.

INTRODUCTION
In the present scenario, there has been a startling enhancement in
the occurrence of new and re-emerging infectious diseases. In recent
years researches on the emergence of multiple drug resistance to
various human pathogenic bacteria has gained utmost attention all
over the world which necessitated a search for new antimicrobial
substances from other sources including plants. Early people
confronted with illness and disease, discovered a wealth of useful
therapeutic agents in the plant and animal kingdoms. The empirical
knowledge of these medicinal substances and their toxic potential
was passed on by oral tradition. According to World Health
Organization (WHO), about 80% of the world population relies
chiefly on the plant based traditional medicine especially for their
primary healthcare needs. The plants with medicinal values and
antimicrobial properties were in common use as a therapeutic agent
to combat the detrimental side effects of conventional antibiotics as
they have wide biological and medicinal activities, higher safety
margins, easy reach to common people with affordable cost [1, 2, 3].
Plants are rich sources of various secondary metabolites such as
tannins, alkaloids, terpenoids and flavonoids having been found in
vitro with known therapeutic and antimicrobial properties which
can be used as an effective as well as alternative treatment of
diseases [4, 5]. Nowadays, multiple drug resistance associated with
adverse effects on the host, including hypersensitivity, immune
suppression and allergic reactions has developed due to
indiscriminate use of commercial synthetic drugs [6]. Furthermore,
the active components of herbal remedies have the advantage of
being combined with many other substances that appear to be
inactive. However, these complementary components give the plant
as a whole a safety and efficiency much superior to that of its
isolated and pure active components [7, 8].
Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis (Parkinson) Fosberg.) pantropical in its
distribution is a multipurpose agroforestry tree crop which is
primarily used for its nutritious, starchy fruit with rich source of
carbohydrates, calcium and phosphorus, minerals and vitamins [9,
10].
It is a beautiful and prolific tree and
an
essential
component of traditional Pacific island agriculture.
It
is
originated from New Guinea and extensively grows in the Southern
parts of India. The multifarious importance of different parts of
breadfruit (latex, leaf tips, and inner bark) includes food, cosmetics,

medicine, clothing material, construction materials and animal feed

[3, 9, 11]. Diluted latex is taken internally to treat diarrhoea.
The sap from the crushed stems and leaves is used to treat ear
infections.
The root is an astringent and used as a purgative. In West
Indies the yellowing leaf is used in tea to reduce high blood
pressure and relieve asthma [9]. Roasted leaf powder is used as a
remedy for enlarged spleen [12].The other species of Artocarpus has
been studied for its antimicrobial activity by several researchers
[13, 14]. Extracts from roots and stem barks showed some
antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive bacteria and have
potentiality in treating tumors [15, 16, 9]. The chromatographic
study of breadfruit revealed high content of amino acid, fatty acids,
and carbohydrates [17]. Atrocarpin, isolated from Thai Breadfruit
heartwood extract exhibits inhibitory effect on melanogenesis
showing high antioxidant activity. The medicinal uses of breadfruit
are being actively researched; however still there is a huge dearth of
information regarding the antimicrobial activity of different plantparts of breadfruit. Comprehensive study aiming at evaluation of the
potentiality of this plant against various bacterial pathogens is very
much essential. This study might be reported to be the first
regarding potentiality of fruit extracts of breadfruit in different
solvents for their antimicrobial properties.
There was a very few reports on antibacterial properties of
Artocarpus which is also largely restricted to the species of A.
heterophyllous [13, 14, 18] and A. communis [19]. These unexplored
therapeutic uses of bioactive compounds from breadfruit fruit
extracts may reveal a great potential of the plant in pharmaceutical
science. Therefore an attempt has been made to study the
antibacterial activity of Artocarpus altilis. Present study revealed the
comparative assessment of various phytoconstituents of A. altilis
fruit extracts using different solvents. The investigations also
comprise the bioefficacy assessment of breadfruit fruit extracts
against four strains of bacterial pathogens viz Staphylococcus aureus,
Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Streptococcus mutans and Enterococcus
faecalis as evident from their MIC (minimal inhibitory
concentrations) values. The study is the first report on
phytoconstituent analysis and bioefficacy assessment for
antimicrobial activity using A. altilis fruit extracts in different solvent
media.

Pradhan et al.
Int J Pharm Pharm Sci, Vol 5, Issue 3, 840-843
MATERIALS AND METHODS

the data. A comparison is also made for the effectiveness of different

solvent media against their antimicrobial activity.

Collection and Processing of Plant Material

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The syncarpous fruits of Breadfruit [Artocarpus altilis (Parkinson)

Fosberg)] were collected from OUAT, Bhubaneswar, India which
were growing in natural condition. These are allowed to air dry
followed by fine powdering in a Willey Miller. The plants were
identified and authenticated at Herbarium Unit of Post Graduate
Department of Botany, Utkal University, India. The fruiting season
typically coincides with the wet, rainy summer months.

Qualitative and Comparative Assessment of Phytochemicals

The qualitative screening of phytochemicals showed the presence of
steroid, phenols and falvonoids in both the Methanolic and ethyl
acetate fruit extracts of Artocarpus altilis. Phytosterols are present in
ethyl acetate fruit extracts only (Table.1). Previous reports on
phytochemical analysis of leaf extract of breadfruit showed the
presence of gums, resins, tannins and alkaloids in addition to the
above [3].

Bacterial Cultures
The cultures of different bacterial strains (Staphylococcus aureus,
Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Streptococcus mutans and Enterococcus
faecalis) were procured from IMTECH, Chandigarh, India, and
maintained at Laboratory of OUAT. Broth cultures of the four
microbial strains showing an absorbance value ranging between
0.129-0.134 at a wavelength of 625 nm (i.e. equivalent to 0.5
McFarland of culture) were used for testing antimicrobial activity [3].

Table 1: Phytochemical screening of fruit extracts of Artocarpus

altilis.
Phytoconstituents
Alkaloid
Steroid
Phenol
Flavonoid
Saponin
Tannin
Phytosterol
Gums &Resins
Terpenoid

Preparation of Fruit Extracts using Different Solvents and

Screening of Various Phytoconstituents
Fresh Artocarpus fruits were cleaned by thorough washing with
deionized water, air dried at room temperature, powdered by a Willey
Miller, sieved and the fine powder was stored in a clean glass
container [20, 21]. 200 gram of ground powder was defatted with n
hexane. The extraction was performed in a soxhlet apparatus by using
200 gram of finely macerated fruit powder in 750 ml of different
solvents (methanol
and
ethyl
acetate)
individually
with intermittent shaking (at 300C to 40 0C). The distillation has been
done to concentrate the extract with further concentration by
evaporation using water bath at 100C. The extracts were filtered
using Whatman filter paper no. 42 (125 mm). The stock solutions of
the fruit extract was prepared in 10% dimethylsulphoxide (DMSO) to
give a concentration of 60 mg/ml. Different phytochemicals viz.
alkaloids, flavonoids, phenolics, glycosides, phytosterol, steroid,
tannin, terpenoids, fats, oils, gums and resins in methanolic and ethyl
acetate fruit extracts of A. altilis were screened for their presence
following standard methods with little modification [21, 22, 23].

Bioefficacy Assessment of Fruit Extracts against Bacterial

Pathogens
Methanolic fruit extracts of Artocarpus altilis was more effective
against Enterococcus faecalis in comparison to other pathogenic
bacteria as shown by their high zone of inhibition. Maximum growth
inhibition activity of Enterococcus faecalis (Zone of Inhibition:
20mm) was observed by 25l methanolic fruit extracts of breadfruit
(1.5 mg dry fruit matter) (Fig 1a.). This result showing the efficacy
of methanolic fruit extracts of Artocarpus altilis against various
human pathogens is probably due to the presence of
phytoconstituents like flavonoids, sterols and phenols. These
secondary metabolites play significant role in inhibiting growth of
these human pathogens and act against them by developing an
effective defense mechanism [26, 27]. Both the methanolic and ethyl
acetate fruit extract have same zone of inhibition against
Staphylococcus aureus at 25l. Growth of Staphylococcus mutans was
inhibited by treatment with methanolic fruit extracts of Artocarpus
altilis at a concentration of 25l ((1.5 mg dry fruit matter) as
evident from its inhibition zone of 15 mm (Fig 1b), whereas ethyl
acetate leaf extract has no impact on its growth. Ethyl acetate fruit
extract of A. altilis showed antibacterial activity against
Pseudomonas aeruginosa whereas it has negligible impact on growth
of Streptococcus mutans. The inhibitory effect of Ethyl acetate fruit
extract on P. aeruginosa may be due to the presence of a flavonoid,
artonin E [19].

Assessment of Antimicrobial Activity

Maintenance of bacterial strains cultures, preparation of discs, study
of inhibition zone showing growth retardation of different
pathogenic bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas
aeruginosa, Enterococcus faecalis and Streptococcus mutans) and
calculations of MIC (minimum inhibitory concentration) values were
undertaken following the methods of Pradhan et al., [3] after little
modifications from Bauer et al., [24] and Prescott et al, [25].
Statistical Analysis
The results of the experiments were represented as the mean of the
triplicates. Standard Error of Mean (SEM) values were calculated for
Enterococcus faecalis

Streptococcus mutans

Staphylococcus aureus

Pseudomonas aeruginosa

18
Diameter of Zone of Inhibition (mm)

Diameter of Zone of Inhibition (mm)

25

20

15

10

16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0

0
Control

10

15

20

25

Control

Methanol

10

15

20

Control

25

10

15

20

25

Control

Methanol

Ethyl acetate

Fruit extract (l)

Fruit Extracts in different solvent media

Methanol
Ethyl acetate
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
-

10

15

20

25

Ethyl acetate
Fruit extract (l)

Fig. 1: Antimicrobial activity of fruit extracts of Artocarpus altilis against a) Enterococcus faecalis and Staphylococcus aureus, b)
Streptococcus mutans and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Values are MeanSEM)
841

Pradhan et al.
Int J Pharm Pharm Sci, Vol 5, Issue 3, 840-843
Methanolic fruit extract showed negligible zone of inhibition for
Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Fig 1b.). Elevated growth inhibition of
Enterococcus faecalis, Streptococcus mutans, Staphylococcus aureus,
Pseudomonas aeruginosa were observed with increased dose of
methanolic and ethyl acetate fruit extract of Artocarpus altilis as
evident from their diameter of the zone of inhibition. MIC values of
different fruit extract of Artocarpus altilis against different
pathogenic microorganisms also varied significantly.
The MIC values of methanolic fruit extract of Artocarpus altilis was
0.9 mg for Streptococcus mutans (Inhibition Zone: 13 mm) and
Staphylococcus aureus (Inhibition Zone: 12 mm) whereas only 0.6
mg of the extract showed growth inhibition for Enterococcus faecalis.
Ethyl acetate fruit extract of Artocarpus altilis showed MIC values of
0.6 mg, 0.9 mg and 1.2 mg for inhibition of Staphylococcus aureus,
Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterococcus faecalis respectively. The
antibacterial activity of fruit extract is attributed to the presence of
phenolics which are released by hydrolysis of non-toxic glycosides.
These phenolic constituents are mostly toxic to various microbial
pathogens [28].
Presence of diverse chemicals in the extract or pure compounds of
natural products provide unlimited prospects for the development
of new drugs [29]. Several plants have immeasurable ability to
synthesize secondary metabolites of which at least 12,000 have
been isolated and these substances serve as plant defense
mechanism against predation by microorganisms, insects and
herbivores [3,27,30]. In this investigation, the methanolic and
ethyl acetate fruit extracts with its different phytoconstituents
have immense importance for antimicrobial activity. The present
study gives an insight about the antibacterial activity of Artocarpus
altilis fruits against various pathogenic bacteria due to the
presence of flavonoids and phenolics in different plant parts [3]
which is a first kind of report. The plant fruit can be used as
potential source for the development of a phytomedicine to act
against infectious bacteria. Purification of economically important
secondary metabolites as precursors for the synthesis of complex
chemical substances, their action on microbial activity with proper
administration of adequate dosage and subsequent structural
studies will aid in isolation of bioactive compounds along with
their nature and property, and discovery of therapeutic agents
from the edible fruits of medicinally important breadfruit plant
[31]. The components responsible for the anti-microbial activities
of these promising plants will be further investigated. This study
indicates the potentiality of breadfruit fruit which is widely used
as functional foods for the treatment of various human pathogenic
bacterial infections.
The present study provides scope for scientific studies to fully
exploit the medicinal properties of breadfruit to support the
traditional claims as well as, exploring some new and promising
leads. In view of the proven pharmaceutical credentials of A. altilis
further identification, isolation, extraction and applications of
bioactive compounds from breadfruit need to be investigated.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors acknowledge the fund received from DST-PURSE
scheme, Govt. of India for smooth running of the work. The authors
are also thankful to IMTECH, Chandigarh for providing the microbial
strains.
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