Phytochemical composition and antimicrobial properties of Syringodium isoetifolium (Ascherson) Dandy ethanolic extracts

Abstract

In recent times, people have forgotten traditional foods with medicinal value, which has led to the emergence of various new diseases that are epidemic to humankind. The most complex ecosystem on earth is the marine ecosystem, which is vast to be explored. In aquatic habitats, marine angiosperms are unique and they occupy the bottom line of the food chain and serve as the main nutrients for the ocean’s higher organisms.  Seagrasses are marine angiosperms belonging to the order Alismatales and there are four different families, such as Posidoniaceae, Zosteraceae, Hydrocharitaceae, and Cymodoceaceae, which have a unique nature that grow and complete their life cycle under the ocean. Syringodium isoetifolium is a herbaceous plant that grows well not only on coral flats but also on sandy to muddy bottoms up to 15 m depth. It is not seen in backwaters and estuaries

Phytochemical examinations of seagrass species have shown that they are likely sources of cell reinforcements (Ragupathi et al., 2010; Rengasamy et al., 2011). The main aim of a medicinal chemist is to get active extracts, fractions or compounds against a particular target. In recent times, computational chemistry has become an economically cheaper solution for drug discovery and the identification of lead molecules. This, when coupled with natural products, enables a medicinal chemist to explore more efficiently with less work (Mukhtar et al., 2008).

Qualitative and quantitative analysis using chromatographic methods are extensively employed in drug discovery, pharmacokinetics, drug metabolism, process and formulation development, metabolic process for research, standardization and quality control (Kazakevich and LoBrutto, 2007; Hostettmann et al., 2001). Only very few studies are available on the antifungal, antibacterial and antiviral activities of crude solvent extracts of the seagrasses. In this study, the ethanolic extract of Syringodium isoetifolium was subjected to phytochemical analysis and antimicrobial activities.