Lawsonia inermis

In the last two decades, antibiotic resistance has become a severe problem worldwide. This has lead to the search for new, safe and effective antimicrobial agents from alternative natural resources like plant products. Different parts of Lawsonia inermis L. (Family: Lythraceae) like roots, bark, leaves, flowers and seeds are traditionally used for the treatment of various ailments.  Alkaloids, tannin, phenolics, saponin and anthraquinone are present in both types of extracts of leaves of Lawsonia inermis. Glycosides are present in ethanolic extract of leaves and seeds. Terpenoids and flavonoids are not found in leaves but present in seeds. The disc diffusion assay showed that the leaves and seeds of Henna plant have different degrees of bacterial and fungal growth inhibition, depending on the strains.  The aqueous extracts showed broadest antimicrobial activity by inhibiting more or less most of the microbial strains involved. Aqueous extract was more effective than their ethanolic extracts. Klebsiella pneumonie and Serratia  marcescens were the most resistant strains tested. It could be concluded that seeds and leaves of Lawsonia inermis have potential antimicrobial efficacy. All extracts (aqueous or ethanolic) have shown better antimicrobial efficacy against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Aspergillus niger. Differential antimicrobial activity of plant parts against different bacteria might be due to concentration of different active phyto-compounds in different parts. Among those antimicrobial compounds, phenolic compounds, terpenoids, and alkaloids are very important compounds in antimicrobial or antioxidant action.

Lawsonia inermis (Lythraceae) commonly called as Henna or Mailanchi is known for its cosmetic properties. Henna is an important source of phytochemicals of immense medicinal and pharmaceutical significance such as alkaloids, naphthoquinone derivatives, aliphatic components, tannins, phenolic derivatives, coumarins, xanthones, flavanoids, therefore an effort to compile all the information reported on its phytochemical and pharmacological activities, so that interest could be diverted towards this dye herb, for the treatment and relief from various ailments and diseases. The resultant extracts were analyzed by thin layer chromatography (TLC), column chromatography, ultraviolet spectroscopy (UV), Infrared (IR) spectroscopy, and High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) techniques UV analysis was done by diluting the extracts with their respective solvents. 2 to 3 peaks were observed for extracted samples at 212 nm, 238.60 nm and 283.30 nm in methanol extract, 241 nm in chloroform extract, 238 nm in chloroform: methanol extract and 272.20 nm in ethyl acetate extract respectively. In HPLC  compounds  methanol extract is carried out for HPLC separation, and mainly three peaks were observed at 2.057, 2.522, 4.133 min retention times, which is the confirmation of presence of three separated compounds.