Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) Analysis, Ultrasonic Assisted Extraction, Antibacterial and Antifungal Activity of Emblica officinalis Fruit Extract

Introduction: Emblica officinalis is one of the common plants being used traditionally in different ways to search for cures and relief from various diseases. Among these diseases, Emblica officinalis had many of medicinal uses in treating a wide variety of bacterial and fungal infections. In this study, Ultrasonic assisted extraction (UAE) was efficiently used for the preparation of aqueous and methanolic extracts of Embelica officinalis fruits (EOFE). The phytoconstituents was detected through GC-MS/MS analysis to confirm antimicrobial effect of EOFE. Materials and methods: The extraction was carried out at 20ºC, for 20 min using a solid-to-solvent ratio of 1: 60 w/v. The extracts were subjected to GC-MS/MS analysis. The in-vitro effect of extracts against twenty one microbial strains was investigated by an agar well diffusion method in different concentrations (25 μg/mL-1000 μg/mL). Results: The percentage yield was found to be 41.33% w/v and 23.0 % w/v with water and methanol, respectively. Phenol,3,5-bis1,1 dimethylethyl, 2,4-di-tert-butylphenol and heptasiloxa ne1,1,3,3,5,5,7,7,9,9,11,11,13,13-tetradecamethyl were confirmed by GC-MS/MS analysis. Effectiveness of extracts against Gram negative bacteria; Providencia alcalifaciens and Gram positive bacteria; Bacillus pumilis, Bacillus polymyxa and fungal strains; Neurospora crassa, Aspergillus brasileinsis and Cladosporium oxysporum are reported for the first time. Aqueous extract revealed excellent antibacterial activity at 50 μg/mL and antifungal activity at 100 μg/mL whereas methanolic extract showed antifungal activity at 250 μg/mL. Conclusion: Results highlight the considerable inhibitory effect of EOFE against various microbial species was mainly due to the presence of phenolic compounds and other phytocompounds.