Dicentra scandens (D.Don) Walp. - A Potential Source of Antimicrobial Agent

Dicentra scandens (D.Don) Walp. locally called as ‘Jogi Lahara’ belongs to the Family Fumariaceae and is used in traditional medicine in Sikkim, a North Eastern state of India. The present study investigated the antimicrobial properties of aqueous and methanol extracts of Dicentra scandens (D.Don) Walp. against some test Gram negative and Gram positive bacteria. Using agar well diffusion method, aqueous and methanol extracts of roots of Dicentra scandens were tested against Escherichia coli (MTCC 1089), Klebsiella pneumoniae (MTCC 3384), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MTCC 1034), Proteus vulgaris (MTCC 742), Salmonella typhi (MTCC 733), Shigella flexneri (MTCC 1457), Vibrio cholerae O139(MTCC 3906), Bacillus cereus (MTCC 6840) and Staphylococcus aureus (MTCC 7443). Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) were also evaluated. Promising antimicrobial activity was exhibited by methanol extract of Dicentra scandens. The methanol extract was further characterized by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. The GC-MS analysis revealed 29 compounds and the major compounds detected were Protopine (53.78%) and Corydine (18.20%). Thus, the alkaloids are predominant phytoconstituents of the extract and could be attributed to its antimicrobial activity. The results of the present study indicate that, Dicentra scandens can be a source of potential antimicrobial agent and can be explored further for its therapeutic use.