%0 Journal Article
%T Antimicrobial activity of sesquiterpene lactones isolated from traditional medicinal plant, Costus speciosus (Koen ex.Retz.) Sm
%A Veeramuthu Duraipandiyan
%A Naif Abdullah Al-Harbi
%A Savarimuthu Ignacimuthu
%A Chinnasamy Muthukumar
%J BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine
%D 2012
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1472-6882-12-13
%X Antibacterial and antifungal activities were tested using Disc diffusion method and Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC). Column chromatography was used to isolate compounds from hexane extract. X-ray crystallography technique and GC-MS analysis were used to identify the compoundsAntibacterial and antifungal activities were observed in hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and methanol extracts. Hexane extract of C.speciosus showed good activity against tested fungi also. Two sesquiterpenoid compounds were isolated (costunolide and eremanthin) from the hexane extract. Both the compounds did not inhibit the growth of tested bacteria. But, both the compounds inhibited the tested fungi. The compound costunolide showed significant antifungal activity. The MIC values of costunolide were; 62.5 ¦Ìg/ml against Trichophyton mentagrophytes, 62. ¦Ìg/ml against T. simii, 31.25 ¦Ìg/ml against T. rubrum 296, 62.5 ¦Ìg/ml against T. rubrum 57, 125 ¦Ìg/ml against Epidermophyton floccosum, 250 ¦Ìg/ml against Scopulariopsis sp, 250 ¦Ìg/ml against Aspergillus niger, 125 ¦Ìg/ml against Curvulari lunata, 250 ¦Ìg/ml against Magnaporthe grisea.Hexane extract showed promising antibacterial and antifungal activity. The isolated compound costunolide showed good antifungal activity.Infectious diseases caused by bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasites are still a major threat to public health, despite the tremendous progress in human medicine. Their impact is particularly large in developing countries due to the relative unavailability of medicines and the emergence of widespread drug resistance [1]. Medicinal plants have been a source of bioactive compounds to treat many diseases. Traditionally used medicinal plants produce a variety of compounds with known therapeutic properties [2].Costus speciosus (Koen ex.Retz.) Sm. (Costaceae, Family)is widely used in Ayurveda. The plant rhizome is bitter, useful in treating burning sensation, constipation, leprosy, worm infection, skin diseases, fever, asthma, bronc
%K Antibacterial
%K Antifungal
%K Sesquiterpeneoids
%K Costus speciosus
%K Costunolide
%K Eremanthin
%K MIC
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6882/12/13