Pharmacognostic And Biological Activities Of Taraxicum Officinale L.

The study revealed the identification of the plant from the allied plant on the basis of pharmacognostic point of view. Antibacterial activities of the methanolic extract were tested against different pathogens viz., Salmonella typhi, Klebsella pneumoni, Staphylococcus aereus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherchia coli in which good activity was noted against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherchia coli. The antifungal activity was low activity against Candida albicans and Fusarium solani, moderate activity against Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus flavus, good activity against Candida glabarata. The plant contained cytotoxic compounds and the LD50 of the crude drug was found to be 86.53. At the concentration of 10 mu g/ml the methnolic extract exhibited significant phytotoxic activity, at 100 mu g/ml the activity was good and at 1000 mu g/ml the activity was moderate against Lemna minor. The pharmacological activities showed that it can be used as bio-control agent for anti-microbes, brineshrimp cytotoxic and phyto-herbicides.