Effect of various chromatographic terpenoid fractions of Luffa cylindrica seeds on in-vitro antimicrobial studies

The objective of the present investigation is to evaluate the antimicrobial potency of the terpenoid fractions isolated from Luffa cylindrica seeds against various pathogenic microbes. The seeds were powdered and extracted with methanol in soxhlet appratus based on phytochemical screening. Three terpenoid components were isolated by column chromatography and identified by thin layer chromatography and chemical analysis which were designated as ${LCSF_4}^*$, ${LCSF_6}^*$ & ${LCSF_8}^*$ respectively. Disc diffusion method was employed to determine the antimicrobial effectiveness of test compounds I, II and III $({LCSF_4}^*,\;{LCSF_6}^*\;&\;{LCSF_8}^*)$ against 6 microbial species viz., Staphylococcus (S.) aureus, Bacillus (B.) subtilis, Escherichia (E.) coli, Pseudomonas (P.) aeruginosa, Candida (C.) albicans and Aspergillus niger. The disc was saturated with $100{\mu}l$ of each compound, allowed to dry and introduced on the upper layer of seeded agar plate. The plates were incubated overnight at $37^{\circ}C$. Microbial growth was determined by measuring the zonal inhibition diameters. Compound I showed maximum potency against gram positive S. aureus (21 mm) in comparison with standard ciprofloxacin (38 mm), whereas the same compound was completely devoid of activity against both the fungi tested. Compound II was found to be highly sensitive against both the gram negative E. coli (20 mm) and P. aeruginosa (22 mm). Compound II was found to exhibit maximum potency against the fungi C. albicans (15 mm) and A. niger (20 mm). Compound III was found to be very effective against both the gram positive S. aureus (20 mm) and B. subtilis (15 mm) respectively.