Analgesic and Antimicrobial Activities of Curcuma Zedoaria

This study describes the biological activity of the dried leaves, stem and rhizomes of Curcuma zedoaria belonging to the family Zingiberaceae. The dried powders of the plant were extracted with organic solventsmethanol and pet ether sequentially by the maceration process. The crude extract of methanol and pet ether were then investigated for analgesic and antimicrobial activity. At an oral dose of 250 mg/kg of body weight the crude extracts of methanol and pet ether were studied for analgesic property by using acetic acid induced writhing effect method. The methanolic rhizome extracts had mild analgesic property (with writhing inhibition of 66.67%). Pet ether extracts of the rhizome, leave and stem had shown moderate analgesic property (with writhing inhibition of 70.24 %, 75 %, 71.43 % respectively), while pet ether extracts of the leaves showed significant analgesic property (with writhing inhibition of 91.67 %). The crude extracts of methanol and pet ether were screened for antimicrobial activity against gram positive and gram negative bacteria and fungi using disc diffusion method. The results obtained were compared with that of standard drug kanamycin. The stem extract showed mild sensitivity to several gram positive, gram negative bacteria and fungi (zone of inhibition 7 mm). The pet ether leaf extract and methanolic leaf extract also showed mild sensitivity to several gram positive, gram negative bacteria and fungi (zone of inhibition 10-12 mm and 11-12 mm respectively). Pet ether rhizome extract also showed highly sensitivity to several gram positive, gram negative bacteria and fungi (zone of inhibition 11-14 mm). The methanolic rhizome extracts showed significant sensitivity to several gram positive, gram negative bacteria and fungi (zone of inhibition 13-15 mm).