Phytochemical Evaluation and Screening of Cardiotonic, Antibacterial and Anthelmintic Activities of Sida cordifolia L.

Abstract

Several herbs are traditionally used in the treatment of a variety of ailments particularly in the rural areas, where herbal medicine is mainly the source of health care system. Many of these herbs havenot been assessed for safety or toxicity to tissue or organs of the mammalian recipients. An attempt is made to prove the efficacy of Sida cordifolia Linn., (a traditional medicinal plant chosen on the basis of ethnomedical knowledge) for its Cardiotonic, Antibacterial and Anthelmintic activities. Sida cordofolia Linn., is used traditionally, inter alia, in the treatment of various infections, asthma, diarrhoea, heart and stomach disorders. Cardiotonicactivity is performed using isolated Frog Heart Perfusion Technique. Antibacterial activity of the whole plant extracts were assessed by Agar well diffusion method against the strains of Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus. Anthelmintic activity was studied against Pheretima posthuma. Phytochemical screening of powdered plant material revealed thepresence of some secondary metabolites such as alkaloids, saponins, tannins, glycosides and flavonoids. Results indicated that methanol, chloroform, aqueous extracts have significant cardiotonic activity but less than standard drugs. Methanol and Aqueous extracts showed high antibacterial activity and anthelmintic activity than the standard drugs. In a nutshell, we can conclude that the methanol and aqueous fractions of Sida cordifolia Linn., had a profound antibacterial and anthelmintic effect eventhough it possessed very significant cardiotonic activity. This validates its continuous usage in ethnomedicine. This plant could be developed into cheap, safe and culturally acceptable standardized herbal products and may serve as asource of new molecules for broad-spectrum antimicrobial and anthelmintic agent.