ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF THE METHANOLIC EXTRACT, FRACTIONS AND ISOLATED COMPOUNDS FROM CITRULLUS COLOCYNTHIS (L.) SCHRAD.

Abstract

The methanolic crude extract prepared from the fruits of Citrullus colocynthis (MCCF), its fractions and two isolated compounds namely Ursolic Acid, (compound1) and  Cucurbitacin E 2-0-b-D-glucopyranoside (compound 2) were evaluated for their antibacterial activity. Broth microdilution and agar disc diffusion methods were used for the investigations. The antimicrobial assays showed that the crude extract, fractions FC I, FC II, compound 1 and compound 2 were capable of preventing the growth of the bacterial strains (standard strains and their clinical isolates). The lowest minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 62.5µg/ml was recorded for the crude extract and the corresponding values for both the fractions and compounds were 25µg/ml each. The overall results provided promising baseline information for the potential use of the methanolic crude extract of C. colocynthis, its fractions and the tested compounds for the treatment of bacterial and fungal infections.