The present study was conducted to evaluate the physicochemical and preliminary phytochemical studies, antimicrobial studies on sixteen medicinal plants collected in and around regions of Visakhapatnam district using methanol as a solvent. Phytochemical screening revealed that methanolic extracts, contained, steroids, alkaloids, phenol, flavonoids, polyphenols and glycosides. The physicochemical parameters like ash and extractive values were determined. The highest percentage of total ash, was found in Catharanathus roseus. The extractive values can be used as a reliable aid for detecting quality of drug adulteration. Antimicrobial efficiency of studies plants was tested against four bacterial clinical pathogens including Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Proteus vulgaris. The diameter of zone of inhibition (ZOI) was measured and it was found that C. roseus showed maximum zone of inhibition against gram+ve S. aureus and minimum zone of inhibition against gram–ve E. coli. Also the zone of inhibition was increased on increasing concentration. Results observed in the present study help to distinguish the plant extracts from its adulterants and quality and it may be indicative of the methanol extracts of studied plants could be a possible source to obtain new and effective herbal medicines to treat infections, which justify the ethnic uses of C. roseus against various infectious diseases apart from its anticancer properties.
Anticancer Properties of Phytochemicals Present in Medicinal Plants of North America