TITLE:
Cytotoxic, Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Properties of Commelina diffusa Burm. F.
AUTHORS:
Mahmuda Nasrin, Farhana Afroz, Suriya Sharmin, Md. Sohel Rana, Md. Hossain Sohrab
KEYWORDS:
Commelina diffusa, Stigmasterol, Brine Shrimp Lethality Bioassay, Disc Diffusion Method, Free Radical Scavenging Assay
JOURNAL NAME:
Pharmacology & Pharmacy,
Vol.10 No.2,
February
26,
2019
ABSTRACT: Commelina diffusa Burm. F. is a herbaceous tropical plant with different traditional medicinal uses. Present study
is aimed to isolate the bioactive compounds from DCM-Methanol extract of the
powdered whole plant of Commelina diffusa and to investigate the cytotoxic, antimicrobial and antioxidant activities
of the crude extract and its twelve vacuum liquid chromatographic fraction (CD1-12).
Vacuum Liquid Chromatography (VLC) was employed to isolate bioactive
metabolites. The physicochemical properties of the isolated compound were
examined and the molecular structure was elucidated by NMR spectroscopy.Cytotoxic, antibacterial, antioxidant activities were evaluated
following brine shrimp lethality bioassay, disc diffusion method and DPPH free
radical scavenging assay respectively. The isolated compound was identified as
steroid (stigmasterol) which had significant cytotoxic
effect on vero cell line. The crude extract and its fractions (CD8-CD12) exhibited strong cytotoxicity in brine shrimp lethality bioassay having LC50 values 3.79, 9.19, 29.49, 16.60, 19.36, 44.58 μg/mL respectively. The crude
extract showed mild to strong antibacterial activity. Fractions (CD5-CD12)
showed mild to strong antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli in comparison with Kanamycin (standard). Strong
antioxidant activities were found in crude extract (IC50 value 30.52
μg/ml), CD11 (IC50 value 39.27 μg/ml) and CD12 (IC50 value 19.50 μg/ml). The study suggests Commelina
diffusa plant extract to have strong antioxidant and cytotoxic activity which is indicative of presence of compounds with broad spectrum of
curative applications. One compound namely stigmasterol has been isolated from
the plant.