Acta Pharm. 60 (2010) 207-215

 

full paper

Short communication

 

Chemical and biological investigations of Delonix regia (Bojer ex Hook.) Raf.

ISRAT JAHAN, MOHAMMAD S. RAHMAN, MOHAMMED Z. RAHMAN, MOHAMMAD A. KAISAR, MOHAMMAD S. ISLAM, ABDUL WAHAB
and MOHAMMAD A. RASHID

rashidma@univdhaka.edu, rashid_phdu@yahoo.com

1 Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh

2 Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh

3 Department of Pharmacy, The University of Asia Pacific, Dhaka-1209, Bangladesh

4 Department of Skin & Veneral Diseases, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Shahbag, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh

Accepted April 12, 2010

 

In this study five compounds, lupeol (1), epilupeol (2), β-sitosterol (3), stigmasterol (4) and p-methoxybenzaldehyde (5) were isolated from the petroleum ether and dichloromethane fractions of a methanolic extract of the stem bark of Delonix regia. Antimicrobial screening of the different extracts (15 μg mm-2) was conducted by disc diffusion method. The zones of inhibition demonstrated by the petroleum ether, carbon tetrachloride and dichloromethane fractions ranged from 9-14 mm, 11-13 mm and 9-20 mm, respectively, compared to kanamycin standard with the zone of inhibition of 20-25 mm. In brine shrimp lethality bioassay, the carbon tetrachloride soluble materials demonstrated the highest toxicity with LC50 of 0.83 μg mL-1, while petroleum ether and dichloromethane soluble partitionates of the methanolic extract revealed LC50 of 14.94 and 3.29 μg mL-1, respectively, in comparison with standard vincristine sulphate with LC50 of 0.812 μg mL-1. This is the first report on compounds separation from D. regia, their antimicrobial activity and cytotoxicity.

 

Keywords: Delonix regia (Fabaceae), methanolic extract, antimicrobial activity, brine shrimp lethality