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BIOLOGICAL SCREENING OF ZIZYPHUS OXYPHYLLA EDGEW STEM

MUHAMMAD NISAR^1*, WAQAR AHMAD KALEEM², MUGHAL QAYUM², INAMULLAH KHAN MARWAT², M. ZIA-Ul-Haq⁴, IHSAN ALI¹ AND M. I. CHOUDHARY³

Abstract: Crude methanolic extract and various fractions of Zizyphus oxyphylla Edgew stem were screened for antibacterial, antifungal, phytotoxic, cytotoxic and insecticidal activities. Antibacterial bioassay performed against six bacteria viz., Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Shigella flexenari, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Salmonella typhi indicated that neither crude extract nor any of subsequent fraction exhibited antibacterial potential. The antifungal activity of the extract and fractions screened against five fungal strains viz., Candida albicans, Aspergilus flavus, Microsporum canis, Fusarium solani and Candida glaberata indicated non significant results. Similarly neither of the crude or subsequent fractions showed any cytotoxicty or insecticidal activity. However crude extract and fractions showed significant phytotoxicity at higher doses.

¹Institute of Chemical Sciences, University of Peshawar, Peshawar-25120, NWFP, Pakistan

²Department of Pharmacy, University of Peshawar, Peshawar, 25120, Pakistan

³H.E.J. Research Institute of Chemistry, International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi, Karachi-75270, Pakistan

⁴Department of Pharmacognosy, University of Karachi, Karachi-75270, Pakistan

^*Corresponding author: akhundin@yahoo.com