Phytochemical Investigation with Assessment of Cytotoxicity and Antibacterial Activities of Chloroform Extract of the Leaves of Kalanchoe pinnata

Kalanchoe pinnata is used in traditional medicines for the treatment of several health problems in Bangladesh. The study was designed to investigate the cytotoxicity and antibacterial activities of the chloroform extract of the leaves of Kalanchoe pinnata. Qualitative phytochemical analysis was also performed for the identification of several phytochemical compounds such as alkaloids, glycosides, steroids, gums, flavonoids, saponins, reducing sugar, tannins and terpenoids. The study revealed that the plant extract contained all of the phytoconstituents except steroids, flavonoids and terpenoids. The agar disc diffusion technique was used to investigate the antibacterial activities of the plant extract at 500 g disc-1 against eight bacterial strains. The plant extract showed very low antibacterial activities with zone of inhibition ranging from 0.330.02 to 1.670.02 mm, while the maximum antibacterial action was recorded against E. coli with zone of inhibition of 1.670.02 mm but no sensitivity was found against V. cholerae. The antibacterial activity of the plant extract was compared with the standard drug, Levofloxacin which was used at 10 g disc-1. Brine shrimp lethality bioassay was also done to find out the cytotoxic activity of the plant sample. The chloroform extract of the plant showed lethality against the brine shrimp nauplii (LC50: 125.89 and LC90: 234.42 g mL-1. Finally, it was concluded that the chloroform extract of the plant leaves possessed considerable cytotoxic activity with less antibacterial potentials.