Biological Activities of Medicinal Plants from Mangrove and Beach Forests

Mangrove and beach forests are rich in medicinal and edible plants. Biological screening of the plants in this study may lead to drug and health product development. The biological tests include antimicrobial activity and cytotoxicity as well as phytochemical screening and Thin Layer Chromatographic fingerprint of the samples are performed. Thirty one samples of 24 species from Welu wetland, Chanthaburi province were tested. The cytotoxicity was done by Brine Shrimps Lethality test (BST), plants possessed cytotoxicity are Arcangelisia flava Merr. (roots), Melaleuca cajuputi Powell. (leaves), and Pluchea indica Less. (leaves) with LD50 31.7, 249.4 and 559.1 μg/ml, respectively. The majority of the 80% alcoholic extracts inhibited Staphylococcus aureus, and Bacillus cereus. Bruguiera gymnorrhiza (fruits) and Lumnitzera littorea (twig) exhibited the strong antimicrobial activity against S. aureus, and B. cereus with MIC 0.0312 mg/ml and 0.0625 mg/ml, respectively. Only B. gymnorrhiza (fruits) inhibited Candida albicans with MIC 0.0312 mg/ml. Phytochemical screening of the active plants was conducted by color test and TLC. The result revealed that the most chemical substances found in the plants were tannins, phenolic compounds and flavonoids.