Original Articles
Taj Ur Rahman,Ghias Uddin, Kha
Abstract
Picea smithiana is a medicinal plant, which is extensively used in traditional medicines. In the current study, pharmacological investigation of n-hexane, ethyl acetate, chloroform, water and residue extract fractions of Picea smithiana leaves was carried out. All fractions showed no antibacterial activity against the tested bacterial strains. The results of antifungal test revealed that the ethyl acetate (B), chloroform (C) and water (D) fractions have promising antifungal activities. In case of insecticidal activity, all fractions were found inactive against Tribolium castaneum, Rhyzopertha dominica and Callosbruchu analis, except the residue (E) fraction, which exhibited 18 % mortality against Rhyzopertha dominica. In case of phytotoxicity, all fractions showed significant phytotoxic activity at 1000 μg/ml concentration. All fractions except aqueous extract, exhibited moderate activity at the concentration level of 100 μg/ml and lowest activity at 10 μg/ml. This data supports the conclusion that extensive research should be conducted to explore the bioactive phytochemicals of the plant.