Report: Assessment of Fumaria indica, Dicliptera bupleuroides and Curcuma zedoaria for their antimicrobial and hemolytic effects.

The present investigation was undertaken to evaluate the antibacterial, antifungal and hemolytic activities of organic and aqueous fractions of Fumaria indica, Dicliptera bupleuroides and Curcuma zedoaria. The methanolic extracts of the plants were dissolved in the water (distilled) separately and then partitioned with the n-hexane, CHCl3, EtOAc and n-BuOH sequentially. Antibacterial activity was checked against Escherichia coli, Pasturella multocida, Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus by the disc diffusion method using streptomycin sulphate, a standard antibiotic, as positive control. Antifungal activity was studied against four fungi i.e. Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Ganoderma lucidum and Alternaria alternata by the disc diffusion method using fluconazole, a standard antifungal drug, as positive control. It was revealed that aqueous fraction of F. indica showed very good antibacterial activity against P. multocida with zone of inhibition 26mm and MIC of 98μg/mL. Its CHCl3 and n-BuOH fractions also displayed good results. Its CHCl3 fraction showed good antifungal activity against G. lucidum with zone of inhibition 24mm and MIC of 115μg/mL. Other polar fractions of F. indica showed good activity against somefungal strains. The CHCl3 and EtOAc fractions of D. bupleuroides displayed good antibacterial activity against some bacterial strains. Its EtOAc fraction showed good antifungal activity only against G. lucidum. The CHCl ₃ fraction of C. zedoaria showed good activity against all studied bacterial strains, while its EtOAc and n-BuOH fractions displayed good results against some bacterial strains. None of the fractions of C. zedoaria displayed antifungal activity against the under test strains. All the studied fractions of three plants showed very less toxicity except n-hexane fraction of D. bupleuroides which showed 79% toxicity.