Passiflora suberosa L. belonging to the family Passifloraceae is an important medicinal plant used in traditional medicinal system in Sri Lanka to treat diabetes, hypertension and skin diseases. We extracted P. suberosa leaves under reflux conditions using different solvents (hexane, chloroform, methanol and water), then subjected to phytochemical screening. Alkaloids, flavonoids and saponins and saponins and anthraquinones were present in hexane and chloroform extracts. Alkaloids, unsaturated sterols, triterpenes, saponins, flavonoids and tannins were observed in both methanol and aqueous extracts. Proanthocyanidins were observed only in the aqueous extract. Hence, aqueous and methanol extracts with most classes of phytochemicals present were subjected to antimicrobial, antioxidant, antihaemolytic activities and Brine shrimp lethality studies. Antibacterial activity and minimum inhibition concentrations were evaluated using three Gram-positive (Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecium) and three Gram-negative bacteria (Pseudumonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhimuriam and Escherichia coli). The results indicated that only the methanol extract of P. suberosa exhibited antibacterial activities against all the strains of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial with stronger activity against Gram-negative bacteria. DPHH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazy) scavenging assay was adopted to evaluate antioxidant properties while antihaemolytic and toxic activities were studied respectively using cow blood and Brine shrimp lethality assay. The IC₅₀ values of the aqueous extract in both antioxidant and antihaemolytic assays were significantly lower than the standard ascorbic acid. Similar results were observed in the Brine shrimp lethality assay. In conclusion both aqueous and methanol extracts of P. suberosa leaves showed the presence of majority of phytochemicals including proanthocyanidins. Antibacterial activity was obtained only for methanol extract with better activity against Gram-negative bacteria. The aqueous extract showed better antioxidant, antihaemolytic and toxic activities than the methanol extract and their respective standards. Further investigations on the chemical composition and possible isolation of active ingredients is warranted.

Kumudu R.V. Bandara

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