Phytochemical, antioxidant and antimicrobial studies of Terminalia gella Dalz- A potential medicinal plant

Abstract

The present paper deals with phytochemical, antioxidant and antimicrobial studies on Terminalia paniculata, a potential medicinal plant from Sheshachalam hills (Chittoor), Andhra Pradesh, India. The stem bark, leaf and fruit samples were screened for phytochemical composition, antioxidant content and antimicrobial evaluation. The phytochemical studies revealed that the presence of phenolic compounds especially alkaloids, coumarins, terpenoids etc., while antioxidant studies revealed that high content of antioxidants present in methanolic extracts when compare to ethyl acetate and petroleum ether extracts. The antimicrobial studies revealed that the most susceptible microorganisms were found to be Klebsiella pneumoniae, Bacillus cereus, Candida albicans, Escherichia coli, Micrococcus luteus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, salmonella typhimurium, and Staphylococcus aureus. Phytochemical analysis of various test extracts revealed that the phenolic compounds especially alkaloids and coumarins are responsible for antimicrobial activity. Terminalia paniculata could be exploited in the infectious management of various diseases.