Erythrina Variegata

This book describes the chemical and biological investigations of Erythrina variegata, a plant belonging to the family Fabaceae. The bark of E. variegata was extracted with methanol. The concentrated extract was then partitioned with n-hexane, carbon tetrachloride and chloroform. Investigation of Hexane soluble fraction of the methanolic extract yielded three compounds, EVB-1, EVB-2 and EVB-3 which were identified as Stigmasterol,Epilupeol,Alpinum isoflavone respectively.The crude extracts showed notable antibacterial and antifungal activity against sixteen microorganisms. The carbon tetrachloride, chloroform and aqueous soluble fractions were found to be moderate to highly inhibitory to microbial growth.The crude methanolic extract along with n-hexane, carbon tetrachloride, chloroform and aqueous soluble fractions of Erythrina variegata showed significant antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities. The significant results of cytotoxic screening support further studying for the development of anticancer drugs. Therefore, plant materials,especially the traditionally used medicinal plants can be potential sources of chemically interesting and biologically important drug candidate.