Volatile Composition and Antibacterial Activity of Fruits of Withania coagulans Dunal

Antibacterial Activity of Withania coagulans

Abstract

Withania coagulans Dunal is a significant medicinal plant as its fruit is used to treat numerous ailments. In this study, volatile oil of fruit of Withania coagulans was extracted by microwave associated hydro-distillation and analyzed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry that resulted in the successful identification of 40 constituents where the most dominating ones were: caprylic acid (28.58%), caproic acid (16.88%), capric acid (12.21%), lauric acid (5.77%), palmitic acid (3.49%), eugenol (3.96%) and varamol (2.95%). The fruit was found to be a major source of fatty acids (71.91%). Moreover, the anti- bacterial activity of the oil against various drug-resistant microbes demonstrated its potential against Pseudomonas aeruginosa (21 mm), Enterococcus faecalis (11 mm) and Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (10 mm) at a dose level of 0.48 mg. Most of these constituents are well known bioactive agents. These results demonstrate the potential of this oil as a natural source of obtaining various fatty acids and a possible remedy against various microbial diseases.