Abstract

Plants are important for their medicinal value because they contain numerous compounds with therapeutic value. Keeping in mind this aspect, traditionally important plants, Luffa cylindrica and Momordica charantia, were screened for antibacterial, antifungal and phytotoxic activities. The n-hexane fraction of L. cylindrical exhibited good (64%) and crude methanolic extract, moderate (58%) antibacterial activity against Bacillus subtilis. Butanol (BuOH) fraction presented moderate activity (58%) against S. flexenari. The crude methanolic extract and chloroform fraction (CHCl₃) of M. charantia showed good (60 and 64%) antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli, B. subtilis, respectively. The BuOH fraction of L. cylindrica showed significant antifungal activity against Fusarium solani(85%) and Trichophyton longifusus (80%). The crude methanolic extract and ethyl acetate fraction (EtOAc) presented good linear growth inhibition against Microsporum canis (70%). The crude methanolic extract of M. charantia showed good antifungal activity againstAspergillus flavus (70%), T. longifusus (70%). The n-hexane fraction displayed excellent linear growth inhibition against T. longifusus (85%), EtOAc fraction against A. flavus (80%) and BuOH fraction against Candida glaberata (80%). The EtOAc fraction of L. cylindricadisplayed moderate growth regulation of 41.66% against Lemna minor L at 1000 µg/ml, whereas at 100 and 10 µg/ml the aqueous fraction displayed growth promoting activity of 5.55 and 16.66%, respectively. The crude methanolic extract and CHCl₃ fraction of M. charantia displayed low growth regulation of 22.22% at 1000 µg/ml, whereas at 100 and 10 µg/ml the aqueous fraction displayed growth promoting activity of 11.11 and 27.77%, respectively.      

Key words: Luffa cylindrica and Momordica charantia, antibacterial, antifungal, phytotoxic.