Preliminary investigation of different extracts of Curcuma caesia for its antibacterial effects and cytotoxic activity

Abstract

The present study is carried out with the different (Petroleum ether, Diethyl ether, Chloroform and Methanol) extracts of dried rootstocks and rhizome of Curcuma caesia. Traditional use of it as liver tonic, antifungal, pain reliever as well as anthelmintic inspired us to investigate the antimicrobial and cytotoxic activity of this plant. Preliminary phytochemical screening revealed the presence of alkaloids, terpenoids, flavonoids, deoxysugars as well as C-glycosides. The present study revealed that the tannin was absent in all extract of C. caesia, which may be a possible reason for not showing any antibacterial activity. Also the brine shrimp bioassay revealed that petroleum ether extract, diethyl ether extract, chloroform extract and methanol extract showed LC50 value of 18.923 mcg/ml, 1.086 mcg/ml, 45.289 mcg/ml and 100 mcg/ml respectively and since the LC50 values less than 1000 mcg/ml indicate the cytotoxic property of extracts, all the extracts of the plant were biologically active.