Antimicrobial and Cytotoxic Activity of Ethyl Acetate, Chloroform and N- Hexane Extracts of Cucumis Sativus Leaves

Plants are the important source of diverse range of bioactive principles. A large number of plants are constantly being screened for their possible medicinal value. The present study was designed to investigate the antimicrobial and cytotoxic activity of ethyl acetate (EAE), chloroform (CE) and n-hexane (HE) extracts of leaves of Cucumis sativus. Antimicrobial activity of EAE, CE and HE was tested against eleven important pathogenic bacteria including both gram positive and gram negative bacteria and three fungi by disc diffusion technique. Here kanamycin disc (30μg /disc) was used as standard for antibacterial study. Cytotoxicity test of EAE, CE and HE was studied by brine shrimp lethality bioassay and compare with LC50 values of standard vincristin sulphate as a positive control. The tested extracts (EAE, CE and HE) showed almost same antimicrobial potentiality against most of the bacterial strains with an average zone of inhibition of 9-20mm. These extracts also showed moderate to good antifungal activity with an average 9 -16 mm zone of inhibition. The results of cytotoxic study of these, illustrated significant potentiality against A. salina, with LC50 7.17μg/ml, 12.29μg/ml and 15.03μg/ml for EAE, CE and HE, respectively. LC 50 value of 2.32μg/ml was found for vincristin sulphate. Further investigations are, however, necessary to explore mechanism(s) of action involved in these pharmacological activities