Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
TRAPA NATANS
LINNAEUS
Phylum: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Myrtales Family: Trapaceae
Common name: Water chestnut, water caltrop
Distribution: Europe, Asia, Africa
Habitat: Freshwater habitats (5 m deep)
Description: This is a loating annual plant species, which is anchored by very
ine roots. The submersed stem is 4 m long and has two types of leaves,
viz., submerged and loating. While the submersed leaves are divided and
feather-like, the loating undivided leaves (2-3 cm long) are ovoid or trian-
gular and are borne in a rosette at the water surface. The white lowers are
four petaled.
Compounds and activities: The bioactive compounds isolated from this spe-
cies include phenolic, lavonoid, and tannin compounds. 1,4-Dioxan extract
of fruit rind of this species showed maximum antimicrobial activity. The
values of inhibition zone (mm) for the Gram-positive bacterial species,
Bacillus cereus
,
B. megaterium
,
Corynebacterium rubrum
,
Micrococcus
lavus
,
Staphylococcus aureus
,
S. epidermididis
,
and
S. sublava
, were
found to be 13.5, 10, 12, 20, 13, 12, and 11, respectively. The values with
respect to Gram-negative bacterial species,
Alcaligenes faecalis
,
Klebsiella
aerogenes
,
K. pneumonia
,
Proteus mirabilis
,
P. morganii
,
Pseudomonas
putida
, and
P. testosteroni
, were 13, 13, 21, 12, 18, 19, and 22 mm, respec-
tively. The values for
Aspergillus candidus
,
A. lavus
,
and
Mucor hiemalis
were 15, 12, and 10 mm, respectively (Parek and Chanda, 2007). The aque-
ous extracts of fruits of this species have also shown antioxidative proper-
ties against free radicals, and the methanolic root extracts of this species
have shown analgesic properties.
