INSIGHTS INTO THE THERAPEUTIC POTENTIAL OF PHYLLANTHUS EMBLICA FRUIT EXTRACTS

Medicinal plants have been used in traditional medicine practices since prehistoric times. Amla (Phyllanthus emlica) which is commonly called as Indian gooseberry, belonging to the family Phyllanthaceae is one of the important medicinal plant gaining interest of researchers for many decades. Amla is a gift of nature to mankind. Qualitative phytochemicals analysis of different extracts of Amla seed coat was carried out according to different standard procedures used to analyze the various classes of secondary metabolites. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of alkaloids, polyphenols, tannins, flavonoids and terpenes. Plant extract has been evaluated for antibacterial activity by agar well diffusion method against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi, Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus mutans. Crude extract showed significant antibacterial activity. The antioxidant activity determined by free radical scavenging, DPPH assay using gallic acid as standard. Ethanol extract showed 80% scavenging activity at 500ug/ml whereas water extract showed 19.7% scavenging activity at the same concentration. This study revealed that the ethanol extract of the plant is a good source of antioxidant and antimicrobial agents.