Phytochemical Screening, Antibacterial Activity and Heavy Metal Analysis of Ethnomedicinal Recipes and Their Sources Used Against Infectious Diseases

Plants are a rich source of secondary metabolites that have been found to have medicinal properties. The present study was conducted to evaluate the phytochemical screening, antibacterial activities and heavy metal analysis of seven medicinal plants i.e., Nigella sativa (seeds), Trigonella foenum-graecum (seeds), Brassica campestris (seeds), Pistacia integerrima (galls), Linum usitatissimum (seeds), Hyssopus officinalis (flowers), Ephedra vulgaris (dry branches) and its two recipes which are used by hakims (Practitioners of local herbal medicines), against different diseases particularly respiratory tract infections. The obtained results revealed that alkaloids (30%) and flavonoids (41%) were in maximum quantity in P. integerrima (galls) while saponins (10.9%) were in maximum quantity in Recipe 1. The antibacterial activity was determined by the agar well disc diffusion method using methanol, ethanol, chloroform and deionized water extracts. Each plant extract was tested against one Gram-positive (Streptococcus pneumonia) and two Gram-negative (Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumonia) bacteria. Maximum zones of inhibition in methanol, ethanol, chloroform and aqueous extract were seen in T. foenum-graecum against S. pneumonia (20.06 ± 0.16 mm), B. campestris against S. pneumonia (22.40 ± 0.24 mm), Recipe 2 against K. pneumonia (20.06 ± 0.16 mm) and N. sativa against S. pneumonia (20.23 ± 0.16 mm), respectively. The concentrations of heavy metals were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometer and showed the existence of high concentration of Iron (Fe), Lead (Pb) and Chromium (Cr). Thus, it has been found that medicinal plants individually as well as their recipes are potentially active against various diseases particularly respiratory tract infections