Phytochemical screening and antimicrobial activity of Neobalanocarpus heimii root / Nurain Najwa Mohd Zawai

Neobalanocarpus heimii are usually used for durable heavy constructions but not in medicinal and other purpose. Objective of this research are to screen the phytochemical contents of methanol extracts of N. heimii roots and to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of these extracts against three species of microorganisms. The powdered roots of N. heimii were extracted with methanol and the extracts were subjected to preliminary phytochemical screening by standard biochemical tests. Phytochemical screening has revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoid, saponin, tannins and terpernoid. Both reducing sugar and anthraquinones were completely absent. The antimicrobial activity of the methanol extracts was evaluated against three bacterial species, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi and Staphylococcus aureus by using disc diffusion method. Methanolic root extracts of N. heimii exhibited the highest antimicrobial activity against S. typhi compared to S. aureus and P. aeruginosa with 20.7 ± 0.33 mm of inhibition zone. The result from the preliminary phytochemical screening of the root extracts of N. heimii in present research revealed the potentials for the plants to be used as an alternatives in traditional medicine by developing antimicrobial pharmaceutical substances from them.