~ 410 ~ Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry 2016; 5(5): 410-413 E-ISSN: 2278-4136 P-ISSN: 2349-8234 JPP 2016; 5(5): 410-413 Received: 26-07-2016 Accepted: 27-08-2016 Souti Khatua Post Graduate Department of Zoology, Midnapore College, Midnapore, West Bengal, India Akhil Pandey Department of Microbiology, Midnapore College, West Bengal, India Surjyo Jyoti Biswas Associate Professor, Department of Zoology, Sidho-Kanho-Birsha University, Purulia, PO: Sainik School, Ranchi Road, Purulia, West Bengal, India Correspondence Surjyo Jyoti Biswas Associate Professor, Department of Zoology, Sidho-Kanho-Birsha University, Purulia, PO: Sainik School, Ranchi Road, Purulia, West Bengal, India Phytochemical evaluation and antimicrobial properties of Trichosanthes dioica root extract Souti Khatua, Akhil Pandey and Surjyo Jyoti Biswas Abstract Trichosanthes dioica, belongs to family Cucurbitaceae is a perennial herb and a common vegetable referred to as ‘pointed gourd’. It was reported to have several pharmacological properties, however, critical search of literature reviews did not yield any articles that evaluated the phyto-constituents of the aqueous root extract and evaluated its biological properties, therefore, the present investigation was undertaken. Qualitative analysis of the aqueous extract revealed presence of flavonoids, alkaloids, reducing sugars. The presence of alkaloids and flavonoids were more when compared to other compounds. The UV-VIS profile of root extract revealed peaks at 520nm, 512nm, 505nm, 496nm, 487nm, 483nm, 444nm, 426nm and 222.5nm with the absorption 0.071, 0.083, 0.077, 0.087, 0.090, 0.161, 0.177, 0.268 and 3.996. Further analysis by GC-MS revealed presence of 11 prevailing compounds, such as eicosane 2-methyl (18.16), octadecane (3.68), methoxy acetic acid (0.71), 2 methylhexacosane (16.18), heptacosane (5.85), octacosane (2.53).Antibacterial activity of root extract (water) against one Gram negative bacteria Proteus mirabilis and one Gram positive bacteria Bacillus subtilis showed a clear zone of inhibition and the zone of inhibition of Gram positive bacteria was slightly greater (13.7 mm) than that of the Gram negative bacteria (12.1mm); against streptomycin, a broad spectrum antibiotic as control which was statistically significant. Trichosanthes dioica may be considered as an important plant with antimicrobial property due to presence of various phyto-constituents. We would encourage others to confirm and refute our findings. Keywords: Trichosanthes dioica, GC-MS, antimicrobial, phytochemical 1. Introduction Trichosanthes, a genus of family Cucurbitaceae is a perennial herb distributed in tropical Asia and is a common vegetable. It belongs to: Kingdom: Plantae, Division: Magnoliophyta, Class: Magnoliopsida, Order: Cucurbitales, Genus: Trichosanthes, Species: T. dioica. ‘Pointed gourd’ (Trichosanthes dioica) is known by the name of parwal, palwal, parmal, patol, potala in different parts of India and Bangladesh and is a prime vegetables of these regions. The fruits and leaves are the edible parts of the plant which are cooked in various ways either alone or in combination with other vegetables. Juice of leaves of T. dioica is used as tonic, febrifuge and in treating enlarged liver and spleen. In ‘Charaka Samhitha’ the leaves and fruits are used for treating alcoholism and jaundice. The leaves of the plants are also used in edema, alopecia and also reported to have antipyretic, diuretic, cardio-tonic and laxative properties. Numerous pharmacological activities were reported by different scientific investigators. Rai et al. (2008) reported the glycemic attributes of an aqueous extract of Trichosanthes dioica leaves in normal as well as various diabetic models [1] . It has been reported by others that the ethanolic extracts of leaf and fruit of T. diocia have free radical scavenging activity [2] . The pastes of leaves are applied by different tribes and communities to relieve from headache and also as a cure for the bald patches of alopecia. Kavitha and Premalakshmi (2012) reported the synergetic effect of Trichosanthes dioica and Clitroria ternatea leaf extract on the streptozotocin induced diabetic rats [3] . The methanolic extract of T. dioica fruits was also reported to have wound healing potential [4] . Some workers also reported that the fruit extracts has cholesterol lowering activity further, scientific literature reveals that alcoholic extract of whole fruit of T. dioica lowered the blood sugar, total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein and triglyceride levels, and increased the high density lipoprotein cholesterol, phospholipid and fecal sterol levels [5-6] . Kharbanda et al. (2015) reported that ethanolic extract of the aerial parts of T. dioica has anti-inflammatory properties while other scientist investigated hepato- protective activity of aqueous and ethanolic extract of Trichosanthes dioica (whole plant) in ferrous sulphate-induced liver injury [7-8] . However, to the best of our knowledge and after critical search of literature reviews [Pubmed, Scopus, NCBI] did not yield any articles that evaluated the chemical composition of the root