Isolation, characterization and antibacterial activity of leaves extract of bael (Aegle Marmelos)

Bael tree, (Aegle marmelos, FamilyRutaceae), is a sacred tree used for medicinal purpose. Some of the medicinal properties are astringent, antidiarreal, antidystentric, demulcent, stromachic, fever curing, insulin-promoter, antiinflammatory, cardio tonic and cures ophthalmic, urinary trouble, palpitation and many more. Most of these properties are believed to be due to presence of bioactive alkaloids in Bael, thus in present work antibacterial phytoconstituent has been isolated from Aegle marmelos leaves which displayed potent antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Solmonella typhi, Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli. Key-Words: Alkaloid, Antibacterial agent, Phytomedicine, Aegle marmelos. Introduction Aegle marmelos (Bael) is a sacred tree from India, of Rutaceae family, related to citrus. It is a beautiful medium size tree (average is 8.5 m tall), with spines on its branches and very aromatic. Leaves are pale green and trifoliate. Flowers are greenish white, sweetly scented, fruits are yellowish green. It is a good source of vitamin C and protein (1). There are several medicinal uses of Bael in curing diarrhea, fever, poor absorption, and bleeding, vomiting, nausea with blood, bronchitis, and gingivitis. Decoction of leaves is febrifuge, expectorant, asthmatic complaints (1). The leaves contain many constituents like alkaloids, aegeline, alkaloid coumarine, and marmine, sterol sitosterol, and essential oils d-limonene (1). Aegeline has recently attracted the interests of several researches (2-8). Review of literature suggested that most of the pharmacological properties are due to the presence of alkaloids in Bael. The study involves the isolation, and characterization of the bioactive constituents in the plant leaves and evaluation of antibacterial activity against some pathogenic bacteria for possible development of new drugs for the prevention and treatment of infections. * Corresponding Author: E-mail: [email protected] Material and methods General experimental procedure The IR spectra were determined on a Thermo Nicolet 470 FT – IR spectrometer. The 1H NMR and 13C NMR spectra were recorded on a Bruker Avance 400 FT spectrometer for 1H NMR and 75 FT spectrometer for 13C NMR, using TMS as internal standard. Chemical shifts are expressed in parts per million (ppm). Column chromatography was carried out using silica gel (200-300 mesh) and to monitor the preparative separations, analytical thin layer chromatography (TLC) was performed at room temperature on pre-coated 0.25 mm thick silica gel 60 F254 aluminum plates 20 x 20 cm Merck, Darmstadt, Germany. Reagents and solvents were all of analytical grades and procured from Merck. Plant materials The plant material required for the study was fresh. Tender leaves were harvested as it has 0.15-0.2% yields from the month of November to March. These leaves were kept in sunlight and the dry leaves were powdered and stored. Extraction and isolation of plant materials The leaves (2 kg) were dried on the laboratory bench for 10 days. The dry sample was milled and ground into powder (1.3 kg). The powdered plant sample (1 kg) was packed into a Soxhlet apparatus and extracted exhaustively with ethanol for 24 h. The ethanolic extract was concentrated using a rotary evaporator at 40°C and then left on the bench to get crude extract Research Article [Sarkar & Solanki, 2(12): Dec., 2011]