Preliminary Phycochemical Analysis and In Vitro Antibacterial Screening of Pithophora Oedogonia (Mont.) Wittrock- A Freshwater Green Alga Forming Mats in the Water Bodies

Abstract

Antibacterial activity of the methanolic extract of dried up filamentous green alga Pithophora oedogonia (Mont.) Wittrock was assayed against two gram +ve (Bacillus subtilis and Staphyllococcus areus) and three gram –ve (Escherichia coli, Helicobacter pylori and Salmonella typhae) bacteria under culture conditions, using the agar disc diffusion technique. Incubation of the Mullar–Hinton agar plates for 24h at 30 0 C, supplemented with the five test bacteria along with 25µl methanolic extract revealed strong inhibitory effect, showing highest inhibition zone (18.1 mm) in case of gram +ve bacteria. Preliminary phycochemical analysis was also performed on the powdered algal sample employing chemical methods and TLC to assay the bioactive compounds, which revealed the presence of six principal bioactive compoundsphenolic, saponin, tannin, amino acid, steroid and flavonoid.