STUDY ON ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF POLYPODIUM DECUMANUM

Abstract

Natural products with medicinal value are gradually gaining importance in clinical research due to their well-known property of no side effects as compared to synthetic drugs.  The fern Polypodium decumanum, commonly called Calaguala, has a clinically documented use in South America and Spain in the treatment of psoriasis.

In the present study the aqueous, methanol, ethanol and acetone extract of  Polypodium decumanum, stem extract was screened for the presence of phytochemical components and tested for antifungal activity against five pathogens such as Candida albicans, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus fumigatus, Microsporum gypseum and Trichophyton rubrum results revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, tannins, glycosides, Steroids, Anthraquinones  and phenolic compounds. The acetone extracts had wide range of antibacterial activity against bacterial pathogens than the ethanol and methanol extract, where as aqueous extract were slightly higher antibacterial activity as ethanol extract. Antifungal activity of stem extract of  Polypodium decumanum, would lead to the establishment of some compounds that could be used to formulate new and more potent antimicrobial drugs of natural origin.

Keywords: Phytochemical Screening, Antifungal activity,  Polypodium decumanum, stem extract.