Phytochemical and biological evaluation of methanolic extract of Boehmeria macrophylla leaves

Abstract

The present study has been designed to test and establish the scientific basis of the use of Boehmeria macrophylla as potential therapeutic agent in traditional medicine in Bangladesh. The methanolic extract of leaves of Boehmeria macrophylla was chosen for phytochemical screening and in vitro biological evaluation for the first time. The preliminary phytochemical screening revealed the presence of carbohydrates, phenols, phytosterols, glycosides and saponin in the crude methanolic extract of the plant. The leaf extract showed noteworthy antioxidant activities through DPPH free radical scavenging assay, along with its total phenolic content, flavonoid content and antioxidant capacity. Moreover, moderate cytotoxic effect in brine shrimp lethality bioassay was also observed. Antimicrobial activity was evaluated by disc diffusion method and the result showed maximum activity against Bacillus subtilis. Increasing concentration of the methanolic extract may help establish its potential against other microorganisms. Additionally, thrombolytic activity was tested using Streptokinase which further presented the plant extract as a mild thrombolytic agent. Future investigations on this plant may help in the development of new drugs and also aid in the research of combination drugs to treat a wide variety of diseases in Bangladesh as well as around the world.