Alhagi kirghisorum: Technological Aspects of its Thick Extract for the Pharmaceutical Application

Abstract

The elaboration of medicinal substances with high pharmacological activity is the primary task of the pharmaceutical industry. In this regard, medicinal plant raw materials as a source of valuable biologically active substances are of great interest. The Kyrgyz camelthorn (Alhagi kirghisorum Schrenk) is a plant representing the genus of plants of the Fabaceae family growing in the deserts. The therapeutic properties of the desert plant are characterized by hemostatic, wound-healing, choleretic and astringent effect; bactericidal effect on staphylococci, streptococci and dysentery bacillus is manifested. The monograph on the herb of Alhagi kirghisorum is included in the State Pharmacopoeia of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The article presents the results of the research on the substantiation and development of the technology of a thick extract of Alhagi kirghisorum, the study of the chemical composition of the obtained thick extract of camel thorn and presents the results of studying the antimicrobial properties of this thick extract. The choice of 70% ethanol as an extractant has been experimentally substantiated, the dynamics of the extraction process was studied and the amount of extractant necessary for complete depletion of the raw materials in the extraction process was established as 1:5 (raw material : extractant). The presence of flavonoids was confirmed by common color reactions. The assay of the sum of flavonoids was performed by spectrophotometry. It has been found that the thick extract obtained by extraction with 70% ethanol has a higher quantitative content of flavonoid substances compared to the aqueous one. The microbiological studies (method of "wells") of Alhagi kirghisorum thick extract obtained by the extraction with 70% ethanol compared to ethanolic solution of chlorophyllipt showed that our extract had a moderate activity against of Staphylococcus aureus (zone diameters were 21.2 ±0.6 and 20.6 ±0.5 mm, respectively) and more pronounced antimicrobial activity against Bacillus subtilis (20.0 ±0.6 and 13.6 ±0.5 mm). Relative to the gram-negative culture of Escherichia coli, the activity of the thick extract of Alhagi kirghisorum was 21.6 ±0.5 mm while ethanolic solution of chlorophyllipt was not active. Therefore, the thick extract Alhagi kirghisorum is a prospective active substance for the development of herbal antibacterial preparations.