Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
EICHHORNIA CRASSIPES
(MART) SOLMS
Phylum: Magnoliophyta
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Commelinales
Family: Pontederiaceae
Common name: Water hyacinth
Distribution: Africa, New Zealand
Habitat: Freshwater habitats, brackish waters (less than 15%)
Description: This loating plant has rosettes of rounded, leathery, glossy, waxy,
green leaves and feathery dark roots. The inlorescence is an aerial spike of
30 cm diameter.
Compounds and activities: The crude methanolic extract of this species contain-
ing an alkaloid and four phthalate derivatives exhibited 21% antimicrobial
activities against
Bacillus subtilis
,
Escherichia coli
,
Streptococcus aureus
,
S. faecalis
(after 24 h), and
Candida albicans
(after 72 h). The values of
diameter of inhibition zone (mm) for these microbial species were 12 ±
0.5, 12 ± 0.0, 12 ± 0.2, 14 ± 0.2, and 13 ± 0.5, respectively (Shanab et al.,
2010). The bioactive compounds isolated from this species include phenyl-
phenalconones (phenyl propanoid derivatives), methyl derivatives of
phenylnaphthalene dicarboxylic acid, and phenylnaphthalene carboxylic
acid (Greca et al., 2009). The benzoindenone of this species possesses
antimicrobial and antioxidative properties. The sulfated polysaccharides,
viz., heterogalactans of the roots and rhizomes of this species, possess anti-
coagulant properties by prolonging the coagulation time of blood. Further,
the extracts of this species have also been reported to possess antiprolifera-
tive, antitumoral, anticomplementary, and anti-inlammatory properties.
