Strategic engineering for detecting antimicrobial compounds from Taxus wallichiana Zucc. (Himalayan yew)

Abstract

Taxus wallichiana Zucc. (Himalayan yew) has been well-documented for containing therapeutically significant active ingredients. Its bark contains pharmaceutically important compounds i.e., taxol and its derivatives which are well known for their anticancer potential. However, T. wallichiana has received limited attention for its equally significant antimicrobial properties. Keeping this background in view, T. wallichiana was selected for the detailed investigation of antimicrobial activities, and isolation and characterization of secondary metabolites responsible for antimicrobial activity in different plant parts i.e., needle, bark, and stem extracts. In plate-based bioassays, plants exhibited antimicrobial action against the three main categories of microorganisms (fungi, bacteria, and actinobacteria). Based on the preliminary antimicrobial study, methanol and ethyl acetate extracts, were selected for further experiments. The bioautographic technique was used for identification, and the mobile phase was optimized with the help of a selectivity triangle. After continuous column and thin-layer chromatography, fractions were identified as having good antifungal, antibacterial, and antiactinobacterial activity. These fractions were selected for further characterization using techniques like GC-MS/LC-MS, and FTIR. These analyses support the identification of several fatty acids, including arachidic acid, behenic acid, palmitic acid, and stearic acid; vitamins (nicotinamide); alkaloids (cinchonine, timolol); amino benzamides (procainamide); carbocyclic sugars (myoinositol); and alkane hydrocarbons (hexadecane), which have antimicrobial activity in T. wallichiana needles. The information gathered from this study will help modern medicine make new drug discoveries that combine different active ingredients from medicinal plants to treat a wide range of ailments.

Keywords

• taxus wallichiana
• secondary metabolites
• antimicrobial potential
• gc-ms/lc-ms
• bioassay-guided fractionation