Phytochemical and Anti-bacterial Activity of Toddalia asiatica: A Wild Nutraceutical

Abstract

Toddalia asiatica (Rutaceae) a woody liana is used traditionally in the treatment of malaria, sprains, cough, fever, neuralgia, epilepsy, dyspepsia, and other disease conditions. A wide range of chemical constituents are found in leaf extracts such as tannin, alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenoids and phenolic compounds and in fruit extract, phytoconstituents such as tannin, saponin, phenolic compounds, and reducing sugar are reportedly present. In recent years, drug resistance to human pathogenic bacteria has been commonly reported from all over the world. In the present scenario of emergence of multiple drug resistance to human pathogenic organisms, this has necessitated a search for new antimicrobial substances from other sources including plants. It was investigated that the leaf and fruit extract of T. asiatica showed potential antibacterial activity against human pathogens such as Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus pyogenes, Vibrio cholera, and Shigella flexneri. This study could be helpful to develop antibacterial agent against the tested strains which will help to formulate a new drug effective against these pathogens.