Physicochemical and Antimicrobial activity of Medicinal plant –

Piper longum

A. Anita¹,J.J. Jerlin², R. Nigisha³, J. Jesslin Blessy⁴, S. Breeza Roy⁵,J. Sweety Puspha⁶

¹Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, St. Alphonsa College of Arts and Science,

Soosaipuram, Karinkal. Tamil Nadu, India.

^2,3,4,5,6III B.Sc Chemistry Students, Department of Chemistry, St. Alphonsa College of Arts and Science, Soosaipuram, Karinkal. Tamil Nadu, India.

*Corresponding Author E-mail: anitavasantham@gmail.com

ABSTRACT:

Phytochemicals are responsible for medicinal activity of plants and these biochemicals are naturally occuring in the plants that have defense mechanisms and protect from various diseases. Their use has been multiplied through various researchers and application due to a number of side effects from use of synthetic drugs, antibiotics and high cost. In the present study, the dried parts of Piper longum was subjected to physicochemical and antimicrobial studies. Based on the results of analysis the antimicrobial activity is performed on chloroform extract of Piper longum. Thus, the antimicrobial activity performed on bacterial strains reveals that the medicinal plant is pharmaceutically important.

KEYWORDS: Antibiotic, Bacterial Strains, Antimicrobial, Defense, Synthetic.

INTRODUCTION:

Plant derived natural products hold great promise for discovery and development of new pharmaceuticals¹. WHO has considered phytotherapy in its health programmed; because these drugs are safe, cost effective and most importantly people have faith in them². A wide variety of medicinal plants used traditionally have not yet been systematically investigated against various microbial pathogens³. It is well documented from ancient times that active principles from plant origin have been used as medicines for various diseases and microbial infections⁴.

DESCRIPTION OF PIPER LONGUM:

Piper longum and plants belonging to the genus piper are common in Indian Ayurveda system of medicine⁵. It has been used as medicine in rural and tribal areas in the world⁶. The fruits and roots has numerous medicinal uses for diseases of respiratory tract, viz cough, bronchitis, asthma and analgesic when applied for muscular pains and inflammation; as snuff in coma and drowsiness and internally as carminative⁷.

Fig:1 Represents Piper longum

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Collection of plants:

The plant piper longum belongs to the family of Piperaceae has been collected from the areas of paloor and Muzhucode, Kanyakumari district.

Moisture content:

10g of plant parts was weighed separately in pre weighed glass petri dishes and dried in hot air oven (80 - 95⁰C) for 3hours. The dishes were then transferred to desiccators, cooled to room temperature and the weight was recorded. The drying was continued till the final weight became stable. The weight differences were noted and the moisture content was expressed in percentage weight of fresh plant parts⁸.

Moisture content (%) =

Physicochemical Analysis:

The leaves and fruits of piper longum were subjected to physico-chemical analysis. Total ash, acid insoluble ash, water soluble ash was done based on the standard methods⁹.

i) Determination of total ash:

Total ash was determined by weighing 2g of air-dried sample in silica dish and incinerated at a temperature not exceeding 450⁰C until free from carbon and then was cooled and weighed.

ii) Determination of acid insoluble ash:

The total ash was boiled with 25ml of dilute HCl for five minutes. The insoluble matter was collected on ash less filter paper and was washed with hot water, ignited, cooled in a desiccator and weighed. The percentage of acid insoluble ash was calculated with reference to the air-dried sample.

iii) Determination of water-soluble ash:

The total ash was boiled with 25ml of water for five minutes. The insoluble matter was collected on ash less filter paper and was washed with hot water, ignited for fifteen minutes at a temperature not exceeding 450⁰C. The weight of insoluble matter was subtracted from the weight of total ash. The difference in weight represents the water-soluble ash. The percentage of water-soluble ash was calculated with reference to the air-dried sample.

Extraction of Extracts from Different Solvents:

Maceration:

The dried fruits and leaves of piper longum is placed in a stoppered bottle with the chloroform and ethanol. It is allowed to stand at room temperature for a period of one week with frequent agitation until the soluble matter has dissolved. The mixture is then filtered and subjected to evaporation. The extracts were subjected to phytochemical screening analysis¹⁰.

Antimicrobial Activity of Chloroform Extracts of Piper Longum:

The antimicrobial activity of chloroform extracts of piper longum leaves and fruits was done by agar well diffusion method¹¹. Muller Hinton Agar plates were prepared and inoculated with test organisms (Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococus sps., Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa) by spreading the bacterial inoculum on the surface of the media with the help of sterile swap. Wells (8mm in diameter) were punched in the agar by using cork borer. Extracts with concentration 50ml were added. Positive control used is ciprofloxacin. The plates were incubated at 37 degree Celsius for 18 to 24hours. The antibacterial activity was assessed by measuring the diameter of the zone of inhibition and recorded in mm.

Analysis:

DISCUSSION:

Yield of extracts:

In case of Piper longum fruits the maximum yield was obtained for ethanol extract (1.90g) and minimum yield is for chloroform extract (1.45g).

In case of Piper longum leaves the maximum yield is obtained for chloroform extract (2.25g) and minimum yield is for ethanol extract (1.19g).

Physico-Chemical Parameters:

The selected plant for the present study was subjected to physicochemical analysis. The results are discussed in the Table 1.1 and Fig 1.1

Table 1.1 Physico-chemical parameters of piper longum

Sl. No	Name of the Physico-chemical constants	*Piper longum* leaves (% of composition)	*Piper longum* fruits (% of composition)
1	Moisture content	28	23.6
2	Total ash	30.5	21
3	Acid insoluble ash	19	2.5
4	Water soluble ash	1.5	8

Table: 1.1 shows the physico-chemical analysis of Piper longum fruits and leaves. The moisture content of Piper longum fruits is found to be 23.6% and that of Piper longum leaves was found to be 28%. The results showed that Piper longum fruits is less affected by bacteria and fungal attacks. Total Ash values of piper longum leaves and fruits were found to be 30.5% and 21%. This reveals that the plant is less affected by contaminants. Acid insoluble ash results reveals that acid insoluble ash of Piper longum leaves was found to be 19% and that of Piper longum fruits was found to be 2.5%. The result shows that there is possibility of contamination with silica materials. Water soluble ash of Piper longum leaves and fruits were found to be 1.5% and 8%. This indicates that the constituents present in Piper longum fruits are more soluble in water. The percentage composition of crude powder of Piper longum leaves and fruits were presented in the Fig 3.1.

Antimicrobial activity of chloroform extracts of Piper longum:

The chloroform extract of Piper longum leaves and fruits were subjected to antimicrobial studies in gram positive and gram negative bacterias. The results were discussed in Table 1.2 and Fig 1.2.

The results showed that 6mm zone of inhibition is observed for all the bacteria tested against the positive and negative control. This shows that the plant has minimum antimicrobial activity against the tested bacterial strains.

FINDINGS:

Physico-chemical analysis showed that the plant contain appropriate amount of silica materials, contaminants and is less affected by microbial attack.

Antimicrobial studies were performed on chloroform extract of Piper longum fruits and leaves showed that there is minimum antimicrobial resistance for the chloroform extracts of Piper longum fruits and leaves.

CONCLUSION:

The active bioactive components are present more in chloroform extract of leaves and fruits than ethanol extracts. This shows that the bioactive components responsible for antibacterial activities were in inappropriate amounts.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

The author is thankful to the management for providing the necessary facilities.

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Received on 06.02.2026 Revised on 04.03.2026

Accepted on 02.04.2026 Published on 27.05.2026

Available online from May 30, 2026

Asian J. Research Chem.2026; 19(3):259-262.

DOI: 10.52711/0974-4150.2026.00040

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License. Creative Commons License.

S. No	Name of the bacterial strains	Zone size in diameter (mm)
S. No	Name of the bacterial strains	Positive control (Ciprofloxacin)	*Chloroform extract of Piper longum* fruits**	Chloroform extract of Piper longum leaves
1.	Klebsiella pneumoniae	26 mm	6 mm	6 mm
2.	Staphylococcus aureus	26 mm	6 mm	6 mm
3.	Pseudomonas aeruginosa	27 mm	6 mm	6 mm
4.	Enterococcus sps.	24 mm	6 mm	6 mm