Evaluation of in vitro pharmacological activities of Diospyros malabarica kostel fruit

Objective: To explore the in vitro pharmacological activities of fruit of Diospyros malabarica. Method: 70% ethanolic extracts of Diospyros malabarica was screened against ten pathogenic bacteria, five strains of gram +ve, five strains of gram –ve bacteria and fungi by using disc diffusion method. Moreover, to study the toxicity of this fruit, we conducted a saltwater shrimp lethality bioassay based on the ability to kill laboratory cultured brine shrimps (Artemiasalina). Results: Fruits extracts were found to exhibit antimicrobial activity against bacterial pathogens with the zone of inhibition ranges between 13mm to 19mm. Fruit Extracts was also tested for its antifungal activity against fungal strains exhibiting zone of inhibition ranges from 14 mm to 19 mm. The fruit extract of Diospyros malabarica shows significant lethality towards brine shrimps at LD50 value of 93.55 ppm. Conclusion: Plant extracts is potentially effective in suppressing microbial and fungal growth. As fruit extracts has significant LD50 value thus it can be further used for cancer cell line studies.