Biological screening of oils from Zizyphus oxyphylla Edgew

The oil obtained by solid phase extraction of the n-hexane fraction from stem (wo-1 and wo-2) and leaves (wo-5) of zizyphus oxyphylla edgew was evaluated in vitro for their antimicrobial,insecticidal,cytotoxic and phytotoxic potential. bacterial strains used for the experiment were bacillus subtilis,escherchia coli,pseudomonas aeruginosa,salmonella typhi shigella flexeneri,and staphylococcus aureus while fungal strains used were aspergillus flavus,candida albicans,candida glaberata,fusarium solani,microspoum canis and trichophyton longifusis. the tested samples did not show any activity against any of above mentioned bacterial strains while in case of antifungal activity,fractions wo-1,wo-2 and wo-5 exhibited low activity against microsporum canis and aspergilus flavus respectively. the crude oil sub-fraction wo-2 and wo-5 exhibited significant phytotoxicity at higher concentration (1000 mg/ml) against lemna minor plant. wo-1 and wo--5 revealed moderate and good insecticidal activity against rhyzopertha dominica and tribolium castaneum respectively. in brine shrimp lethality assay,no cytotoxicity was observed at any concentration by any oil fraction.