www.pcbsj.webs.

com

PhytoChem & BioSub Journal Vol. 6 (2) 2012 ISSN 2170-1768

PhytoChem & BioSub Journal

ISSN 2170-1768

2012 Vol. 6 No.2

The Saharan medicinal plant Limoniastrum feei: Ethnomedical survey and preliminary phytochemical screening of antibacterial extracts
S. RAHMANI 1,2, L.ZIANE 1, N. BELBOUKHARI 1,2 & A. CHERITI 1
1) 2)

Phytochemistry & Organic Synthesis Laboratory Bioactive Molecules and Chiral Separation Laboratory University of Bechar, 08000 Bechar, Algeria

Received: December 18, 2011; Accepted: March 30, 2012 Corresponding author Email nasro14@maktoob.com Copyright 2012-POSL

Limoniastrum feei (plumbagenaceae) a medicinal plant, used in Saharan ethnopharmacopeae to treat gastric tract, hepatit desorder and cought. The antibacterial extracts from leaves, stem and twig of this plant are screened for the principal classes of secondary metabolites, such as Alkaloids, Saponins, Terpenes, Tannins, Flavonoids, Steroids and Cardenolids. Key words: Limoniastrun feei, bioactive extract, phytochemical screening, ethnopharmacology, Sahara

Introduction Compounds such as quinine, morphine, aspirin (a natural product analog), digitoxin and many others, so natural products are so important to undertake research are that they can be a source of new compounds. [1]. A dozen potent drugs have been derived from plants including: derived diosgenin; reserpine and pilocarpine. Other natural products are metabolites from fungi, bacteria, algae, and marine organisms. So, the diversity of structures obtained and the different therapeutic activities shown for the natural products make that the isolation, identification, synthesis and biosynthesis of new natural compounds continue to be a field of enormous interest [2]. Natural products have made enormous contributions to human health and have served as an important source of drugs since ancient times and about half of the useful drugs today are derived from natural sources. One of the most efficient ways of finding new bioactive compounds is collecting data on the use of medicinal plants in traditional pharmacopeia. Nearly 50,000 species of higher plants have been used for traditional treatment of illness. In systems of traditional healing, major pharmaceutical drugs have been either derived from or patterned after compounds from biological diversity [3]. Algeria with its large area and diversified climate has a varied flora, which is a source of rich and abundant medical matter and, in particular, Sahara part constitutes an important reservoir

83

www.pcbsj.webs.com

PhytoChem & BioSub Journal Vol. 6 (2) 2012 ISSN 2170-1768

of many plants which have not been investigated until today. Among this flora, Limoniastrum feei belonging to plumbagenaceae family is widely applied in traditional folk medicine. [4-8]. The aim of this study is to validate the ethnomedical use of the Saharan medicinal plant Limoniastrum feei and to evaluate the antibacterial extracts by phytochemical screening. In earlier works we have reported the antimicrobial activity of aerial part crude extracts from Limoniastrum feei [9] , and we have isolated flavonoids and saponins from the methanolic extract of leaves and stem part of this specie [10, 11] Plant materials and extraction Aerial parts of Limoniastrum feei were collected in March May 2005 from Boukais (Bechar district) south-western Algeria. A voucher specimen is deposited at the herbarium of Phytochemistry and Organic Synthesis Laboratory under CA99/14 All parts of limoniastrum feei (leaves stem and twig) were cut into small pieces and shade dried at room temperature for one week, individually ground to a fine powder and stored in airtight polythene bags protected from sunlight until use. The solvent extraction of plant powder is done by using soxhlet apparatus in reflux for 3 hours. The extract is evaporated in vacuo apparatus to obtain a residue for the phytochemical screening. Botanical description Limoniastrum feei (syn. Ceratolimon feei , Bubania Feei ) - Plumbagenaceae- ( Figure 1), known under the name vernacular "Melefet Khadem", is a perennial shrub with densely ramified stems at the base, rather small, not exceeding 40 cm.The leaves form a basal rosette; they are lanceolated, approximately 5 cm. Flowering starts in early spring (end of February) and continues until late spring in May with a nice purplish red color of flower. Ecologically this Saharan specie thrives particularly on the stony grounds of the djebels, its occurrence on gravellysandy wadi beds. [5, 12, 13].

Stem Leaves Twig

Stem

Twig Leaves

Figure 1: General morphology of Limoniastrum feei 84

www.pcbsj.webs.com

PhytoChem & BioSub Journal Vol. 6 (2) 2012 ISSN 2170-1768

Ethnomedical survey The ethnomedical survey was conducted in Bechar district (Figure 2). The majority of the population consists of four important origins: Dewimen, Ouled djerir, Cheraga and Ksouri. The language of the inhabitants is Arabic and Berber. The people's main source of living in this region is farming [5, 6]

Figure 2: The location of Study region, Algeria.

The ethnomedical survey carried out during three months especially in Bechar town. The interviewing question include: Vernacular name, plant parts used (dried or fresh), medicinal use, preparation methods and daily dosage. The information is taken from aged people especially women and herbalist witch have interesting traditional knowledge about plants. The information collected from the survey on the traditional uses Limoniastrum feei are shown in the following figure.

90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 gastric disorrders hepatit cough

Preparations are usually made by using the aerial parts of the plant boiled in hot water. The water preparation is applied in the treatment of gastric disorders, hepatitis and cough.

85

www.pcbsj.webs.com

PhytoChem & BioSub Journal Vol. 6 (2) 2012 ISSN 2170-1768

Phytochemical screening of the antibacterial extracts In our previous studies conducted in the biological screening of Saharan medicinal plants ,we have found that methanolic and heptane extracts of the three parts of Limoniastrum feei (leaves, stem and twig) have an interesting antibacterial effects ( Table 1). Thus we think that carrying out a phytochemical screening on the bioactive extracts for this plant is necessary to conducting a future works on the isolation and identification of natural compounds. [6, 9]. Table 1: Selected antibacterial Extracts
Bacteria Parts of plant Leaves Twig Stem Escherichia coli Pseudomonas aeruginosa Enterococcus facalis Klebsiella pneumoniae Staphylococu aureus

MeOH MeOH MeOH

MeOH MeOH MeOH

MeOH MeOH _

MeOH MeOH Heptane

MeOH MeOH MeOH

The crude of Metenolic and Heptane extracts of the three parts of Limoniastrum feei were screened for the presence of Alkaloids, Saponins, Terpenes, Tannins, Flavonoids, Steroids and Cardenolids, by using standard procedures to identify the constituents as described in literature [14, 15]. The results of phytochemical screening were given in the Table 2. Table 2: Phytochemical screening of the Methanolic and heptane extracts from Limoniastrum feei
Leaves M Alkalods Saponins Terpenes Tanins Flavonods Flavonods aglycon Glycosids flavonods Steroids + + + + + + + Twigs M + + + + + + Stems M + + + + + H + + + + + + + +

Cardenolids + + (M: Methanol, H: Heptan , + : detected, - : not detected)

Phytochemical Screening based on tests of colouration and precipitation was undertaken by the bioactive extracts (Methanol and Heptan). The tests carried out on leaves, Twings and Stems show presence of Saponins, Terpens, Tannins, Flavonoids (free and glycosides) and 86

www.pcbsj.webs.com

PhytoChem & BioSub Journal Vol. 6 (2) 2012 ISSN 2170-1768

Cardenolids. However we observed less presence of steroids and absence of Alkaloids. From the results it is evident that all parts of the Limoniastrum feei gave a positive test for a tested class of natural compounds whereas we noted the absence of Cardenolids in leaves and steroids in Twing and Stems. Conclusion Limoniastrum feei (plombagenaceae) has great importance due to its ethnobotanical place in Saharan traditional medicine, for treatment of particularly gastric disorders. The phytochemical screening of the antibacterial extracts indicates the presence of Saponins, Tannins, Flavonoids and Cardenolids. The presences of this class of compounds are in agreement of the observed antibacterial activities. Finally, Limoniastrum feei can be a potential source of useful drugs and further studies are required to isolate the pure active metabolites. References [1] Newman, D. J., Cragg, G. M. 2007, Journal of Natural Products, 70, 461. [2] Hostettmann, K., Potterat, O., Wolfender, J.-L. 1998, Chimia. 52, 10. [3] Bisset N. 1994, Herbal drugs and phytopharmaceuticals. A handbook for practice on a scientific basis. Ed. Medpharm. Sc. Publishers, Sttutgarts-CRC Press, Boca Raton. [4] Cheriti, A.; Belboukhari, N.; Hacini, S., 2004 , Iran. J. Pharm. Res, , 3(2), 51. [5] Cheriti A., 2000, , Plantes mdicinales de la rgion de Bechar, Sud ouest Algrie (Ethnopharmacologie) Rapport CRSTRA, Algeria. [6] a) Cheriti, A., Belboukhari, N.& Hacini, S., 2001. Annales Univ. de Bechar,1. 4. b) Belboukhari N., Cheriti A. and Roussel C. 2007, eCAM, 4(S1), 55 . [7] Cheriti, A., Belboukhari, N. ,Sekkoum, K.. & Hacini, S. 2006, J. Algerien des Regions Arides, 5, 7. [8] Belboukhari, N. and Cheriti A. 2008, Elec. J. Environ., Agron., Food Chem., 7(14), 2749. [9] Belboukhari N; Cheriti A, 2005, Asian Journal of Plant Sciences , 4(5) , 49 [10] Belboukhari N; Cheriti A, 2007, Research journal of phytochemistry, 74-78 [11] Belboukhari N; Cheriti A, 2009, Chemistry of Natural Compounds, 45(5). [12] a) Ozenda P., 1967, Flore du Sahara, , Ed CNRS, Paris., b) Chehma, A. 2006 Catalogue des plantes spontanes du Sahara septentrional Algrien, Ed. Dar Houda, [13] Bellakhdar, J., 1997, La pharmacope marocaine traditionnelle. Mdecine arabe ancienne et savoirs populaires. IBIS Press. [14] Trease, GE., Evans, W.C., Pharmacognsy, 1989, 11th Ed. Macmillian publishers, [15] Harborne, J.B., 1978, Phytochemical methods,3rd Ed., Chapman and Hall, London

87