Antimicrobial and Anti-Cancerous Effects of Saponin from Andrographis paniculata Root

ABSTRACT

This study examined the saponin extracted from the roots of Andrographis paniculata for the phytochemical content and antimicrobial and anticancer effects. The phytochemicals present in the methanol and aqueous root extracts included alkaloids, tannins, flavonoids, phenolic compounds, saponins, glycosides, steroids, triterpenoids, tannins, proteins, steroids, chlorogenics and carbohydrates. A. paniculata root saponin expressed antibacterial properties against four Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, Proteus vulgaris, and Klebsiella pneumoniae), four Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Enterococcus faecalis, and Micrococcus luteus), and two fungi (Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans); the saponin also inhibited the proliferation of HePG2 cells, with an IC₅₀ value of 125 µg mL⁻¹.

KEYWORDS:

• Cytotoxicity
• HePG2 cells
• Andrographis paniculata
• Antimicrobial
• Saponins

Acknowledgments

The first author expressed gratitude to Periyar University for their financial assistance through the University Research Fellowship award (Ref. No: PU/AD-3/URF Order/05104/23F72622/2023). The authors from Periyar University acknowledged DST-FIST (SR/FIST/LSI-673/2016) released a major grant to the Biotechnology Department to strengthen the Instrumentation facility.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author contribution

Ismail Shahanaj: Conceptualization, Investigation, Statistics, Writing – original draft. Krishnan Mohan: Conceptualization, Investigation, Statistics. Devarajan Natarajan: Computational analysis Reviewing and Editing. Kavitha Ramamoorthy: Reviewing, Editing, Supervision and Project administration.