Abstract

Traditional medicine is a potential source of new drugs. Citrullus colocynthis is a Tunisian plant used in folk medicine against dermatological, gynaecological and pulmonary infections; and against inflammations and cardiovascular and immune-related diseases. The present study was conducted to evaluate the in vitro antimicrobial and anticoagulant properties of leaf extracts from an endemic plant, C. colocynthis Schrad. The extracts were screened for antimicrobial activity against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria and against fourCandida spp. using the microdilution method. The anticoagulant property was evaluated using the prothrombin time (PT) and partial thromboplastin time tests. The antimicrobial test results showed that polar extracts using ethyl acetate, acetone and methanol from this species strongly inhibited the growth of microorganisms while petroleum ether and chloroform extracts had moderate antibacterial and anticandidal activities. Investigation of the coagulant activity of different extracts showed that C. colocynthis leaves reduced or prolonged the PT and activated or inhibited partial thromboplastin time tested on plasma according to plant extracts and dilution degrees. This indicates that this species possesses both procoagulant and anticoagulant activities. From these results, we confirmed the traditional use of C. colocynthis.

Key words: Traditional medicine, Citrullus colocynthis Schrad., leaves, antimicrobial, anticoagulant.