International Journal of Nanotechnology and Allied Sciences

Validation of the Ethnopharmacological Uses of Withania somnifera

Muhammad Shuaib — 2019-01-31

The antimicrobial potential of some solvent extracts of Withania somnifera leaves against different strains of bacteria and fungi was investigated. The leaves of W. somnifera species were collected from Bacha Khan University, Charsadda, Pakistan, rinsed with distilled water and extracted with chloroform and ethanol. Antibacterial activity of crude extracts of W. somnifera was determined by agar well diffusion method against gram positive, gram negative bacterial and antifungal activity was determined by agar diffusion method against fungal strains. All tested plant extracts, showed varying zones of inhibition against bacteria and fungi tested. The highest zone of inhibition of 27 mm diameter was noted in S. aureus with ethanol extract while the lowest 7 mm zone of inhibition was reported in Klebsiella pneumonia. Among the fungal species, promising level of antifungal activity was observed in all fractions against A. flavus and A. niger. The results obtained exhibit that this plant has good medicinal potential, and it needs further phytochemical exploitation to isolate phytochemical constituents having antibacterial and antifungal activities.

Direct Regeneration from Leaf Disc Explants of Peanut: Grafting Improves Survival Rate

Mahmood ul Hassan — 2019-01-31

Leaf discs of 0.5 cm diameter from 10 days old seedlings of four peanut cultivars were cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with twelve different combinations of Thidiazuron (TDZ) and Naphthalene acetic acid (NAA). Highest number of responding explants (52.67%) with highest number of shoot buds (5.65) per responding explant was achieved at a combination of 0.5 mg/l NAA and 0.5 mg/l TDZ. The explants were then shifted to fresh MS medium containing 8 mg/l Benzylaminopurine (BAP) and 0.5 mg Indole Acetic Acid (IAA) for shoot elongation. Root induction was highest (56.07%) at half strength MS medium supplemented with 1.5 mg/l NAA. Grafting of in vitro regenerated shoots on 10 days old seedling root stock showed highest (61.30%) success rate. Survival rate of plants obtained from grafting was almost double (45.76%) than those achieved by rooting of shoots (22.41%). There was significant variation among four varieties regarding number of responding explant, number of shoots per explant, rooting or grafting percentage and survival rate. Golden proved to be the best variety in terms of number of plant reaching to maturity.