Asian J. Exp. Sci., Vol. 23, No.

3, 2009; 01-04

Bioactivity of Psoralea corylifolia l. Seeds against Selected Plant and

Clinical Pathogens
Varaprasad Bobbarala, V. Varahala Rrao, G. Srinivasa Rao, D. Bindu
Maduri
For U Biosciences, A/4A, Park Lane Residency,
East Point Colony,
Visakhapatnam-530017 (A.P.); India.

Abstract : Current research has been made to carry out screening for the preliminary antibacterial
and antifungal activities of organic solvent extracts of P. corylifolia L. In this study, hexane,
chloroform and methanolic extracts from the seeds of Psoralea corylifolia L. (Leguminosae)
were tested for antimicrobial activity against 21 strains of different host pathogenic microbial
species by agar well diffusion method. From the results, P. corylifolia was found antimicrobial
against fungi, Gram (+) and Gram (-) bacteria and fungi. Maximal antibacterial activity was seen
against Pencillium expansum and Lactobacillus acidophilus with methanolic extract. Presence
of tannins, saponins, flavanoides, phenolic compounds, cardiac glycosides and carbohydrates
indicates that Psoralea corylifolia L. is one of the potential medicinal plant for therapeutic
use.
Key words : Psoralea corylifolia, antimicrobial activity, methanol extract, well diffusion.

Introduction In recent years, human and

Psoralea corylifolia, an erect annual
herb with broadly-elliptic leaves, yellow or
bluish purple flowers, more commonly available
in Southern India has been used traditionally in
Siddha system of medicines to treat various
diseases (Mohanan et al, 1998). It has been
widely used to improve general vitality
(Chevallier, 1996). The seed is anthelmintic,
antibacterial, aphrodisiac, astringent, cardiac,
cytotoxic, deobstruent, diaphoretic, diuretic,
stimulant, stomachic and tonic (Grieve, 1984;
Yeung, 1985; Duke and Ayensu, 1985; Chopra
et al, 1986). It is used in the treatment of febrile
diseases, premature ejaculation, impotence,
lower back pains, frequent urination,
incontinence, bed wetting etc (Chevallier,
1996). It is also used externally to treat various
skin ailments including leprosy, leucoderma and
hair loss (Duke and Ayensu, 1985).
* Corresponding author : Varaprasad Bobbarala, For U Biosciences, A/4A, Park Lane Residency, East
Point Colony, Visakhapatnam-530017 (A.P.); India.; E-mail: varaprasadphd@rediffmail.com
phytopathogenic microorganisms have
developed resistance in response to the
indiscriminate use of commercial antimicrobial
drugs commonly employed in the treatment of
various diseases. This situation, the undesirable
side effects of certain antibiotics, and the
emergence of previously uncommon infections,
has forced scientists to look for new
antimicrobial substances from various sources,
such as medicinal plants the screening of plant
extracts and plant products for antimicrobial
activity has shown that plants represent a
potential source of new anti-infective agents.
Natural products, either as pure compounds
or as standardized plant extracts, provide
unlimited opportunities for new drugs leads
because of the unmatched availability of
chemical diversity. There is a continuous and
urgent need to discover new antimicrobial
compounds with diverse chemical structures

1
Bobbarala V. et al. (2009) Asian J. Exp. Sci., 23(3), 01-04
and novel mechanisms of action for new and
re-emerging infectious diseases Therefore,
researchers are increasingly turning their
attention to folk medicine, looking for new leads
to develop better drugs against microbial
infections The increasing failure of
chemotherapeutics and antibiotic resistance
exhibited by pathogenic microbial infectious
agents hassled to the screening of several
medicinal plants for their potential antimicrobial
activity. In recent years, secondary plant
metabolites (phytochemicals), previously with
unknown pharmacological activities, have been
extensively investigated as a source of
medicinal agents.
Despite the wide use of P. corylifolia,
the plant in India has not received much
attention and has not been fully studied.
Therefore, the aim of the present study was to
evaluate the antimicrobial activity of Indian P.
corylifolia using agar well disc diffusion
assays.
Materials and Methods
Plant material and preparation of the
extracts
The seed material of P. corylifolia was
purchased from local herbal vendor at
Visakhapatnam district, Andhra Pradesh. The
seed materials were finely powdered and
successively extracted with organic solvents
of hexane, chloroform, and methanol basing
on order of polarity using soxhlet apparatus.
The different extracts obtained were
subsequently concentrated under reduced
pressure to get their corresponding residues.
The extracts were screened for antimicrobial
activity using the method described under the
section.
Test microorganisms
The plant extracts were assayed for
antimicrobial activity against phytopathogenic
bacterial strains including Pseudomonas
2
syrengae (MTCC1604), Pseudomonas
aeruginosa ((MTCC 1688), Xanthomonas
compertis (MTCC 2286) Pseudomonas
margenalis (2758), and fungal strains of
Acremonium strictum (MTCC 3072),
Alternaria alternate (MTCC 2723)
Aspergillus flavus (MTCC 1884), Bipolaris
bicolor (MTCC 2105), Cladosporium
herbarum (MTCC 2143), Curvularia lunata
(MTCC 2030), Fusarium oxysporum (MTCC
1755), Pencillium expansum (MTCC 2006),
Rhizoctonia solani (MTCC 4633),
Tiarosporella phaseolina (MTCC 2165) and
Ustilago maydis (MTCC 1474). Clinically
important bacteria Escherichia coli (MTCC
443), Lactobacillus acidophilus (MTCC
447), Lactobacillus fermentum (MTCC 903),
Staphylococcus aereus (MTCC 96),
Streptococcus mutans (MTCC890.497),
Streptococcus mitis (MTCC2695),
Streptococcus thermophilus (MTCC 1938),
and fungal strain Candida albicans (MTCC
3017). These strains were obtained from
Microbial Type Culture Collection & Gene
Bank (MTCC), Chandigarh. Nutrient broth and
Sabouraud dextrose agar (SDA) were used
for growing and diluting the microorganism
suspensions.
Antimicrobial assays
The antibacterial activity of the crude plant
extracts was determined using the well diffusion
method as described previously by Olurinola
(1996). Twenty ml of nutrient agar was
dispensed into sterile universal bottles, and then
inoculated with 0.2 ml of cultures mixed gently
and poured into sterile petri dishes. Then three
to five uniform wells were punctured in nutrient
agar medium. Wells were filled with 50µl of
the different solvent extracts of 100mg/ml and
allow diffusing for 45minutes. The plates were
incubated at 37°c for 24 hours for bacteria.
The same procedure was carried out for
antifungal assay except that sabouraud dextrose
agar medium was used instead of nutrient agar
 Bioactivity of Psoralea corylifolia l. Seeds against Selected Plant and Clinical Pathogens
and incubated at 25°c for 48 hours. A standard
antibiotic and antifungal drugs Streptomycin
(10mg/ml), Amphotericin B (10mg/ml) and
Bavistin (10mg/ml) were also included as
positive controls. Hexane, chloroform and
methanol solvents were also included as a
control. The antimicrobial activity was assessed
by measuring the diameter of the inhibition zone
formed around the well. The average of two
replicates for each extract has been calculated.
Results and Discussion
The antimicrobial screening of three
different organic solvent extracts of P.
corylifolia are presented in table. 1. In recent
years, human pathogenic microorganisms have
developed resistance in response to the
indiscriminate use of commercial antimicrobial
drugs commonly employed in the treatment of
infectious diseases (Sydney et al., 1980). This
situation, the undesirable side effect of certain
antibiotics, and the emergence of previously
uncommon infections, has forced scientists to
Table 1: Antimicrobial activity of hexane, chloroform and methanol extracts of Psoralea corylifolia
seeds.
3
look for new antimicrobial substances from
various sources, such as medicinal plants. The
screening of plant extracts and plant products
for antimicrobial activity has shown that plants
represent a potential source of new anti
infective agents. In recent years, secondary
plant metabolites (phytochemicals), previously
with unknown pharmacological activities, have
been extensively investigated as a source of
medicinal agents. Thus, it is anticipated that
phytochemicals with adequate antimicrobial
efficacy will be used for the treatment of
bacterial and fungal infections since time
immemorial.
The efficacy of three different extracts
of P. corylifolia revealed that methanol
extracts were more potent than hexane
followed by chloroform extracts of P.
corylifolia. The methanolic extracts exhibited
highest antimicrobial activity and hexane
extracts shown moderate activity followed by
chloroform extract exhibited lowest
Bobbarala V. et al. (2009) Asian J. Exp. Sci., 23(3), 01-04
antimicrobial activity. All clinical, plant and aqua
pathogens were highly susceptible to methanol
extracts. Hexane and Chloroform and
methanol extracts of P. corylifolia have shown
remarkable antibacterial and antifungal
activities against clinical and plant pathogens.
It was observed in the current study that the
methanolic, hexane and chloroform extracts
of P. corylifolia inhibited the growth of
pathogenic microorganisms tested 95%, 85%
and 65% respectively. The broad spectrum of
antimicrobial activity of these herbal extracts
was due to the occurrence of psoralen.
Psoralen (also called psoralene) is the parent
compound in a family of natural products known
as Furocoumarins. Psoralen occurs naturally
in the seeds of P. corylifolia. The active
principle psoralen may be responsible for the
broad spectrum antimicrobial activity of
extracts of P. corylifolia.
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