SCREENING OF GENETIC VARIANTS, PHYTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS, CHARACTERIZATION AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF Physalis minima FRUITS EXTRACT

Medicinal herbs are playing a major role in the therapeutic field due to the combination of phytochemicals and are the alternatives to chemical drugs. Physalis minima fruit has also exhibited multiple biological activities due to its richness in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidant chemicals. This work investigated the phytochemical variations of the genetic variants collected from four districts around Salem, Namakkal, Erode, and Dharmapuri with the help of polymerase chain reaction and random amplified polymorphic DNA methods. Phytochemicals of the fruits were examined through thin layer chromatography using chloroform, diethyl ether, ethanol, ethyl acetate, and methanol extracts. The polar solvent ethanol crude extract was characterized by FT-IR and GC-MS analysis to identify the functional groups. The antimicrobial activity of ethanolic extracts of Physalis minima fruits was evaluated against Streptococci acidominimus, Pseudomonas aeuriginosa, Penicillium expansum, and Aspergillus fumigatus strains by the cup diffusion method using serially diluted ethanolic extracts of Physalis minima fruit. The sample’s inhibition zones were compared with 25µl of the standards such as tetracyclin and fluconazole. The genetic variants were identified through the RAPD analysis and proved to have both phenotypic and genotypic characteristics in Physalis minima fruits. The thin-layer chromatography outcomes exposed the presence of phytochemicals in an evident manner, and the antimicrobial activity of the fruits exhibited good inhibition against the selected pathogens. The fruit extracts showed good inhibition between 1.5 mm and 5 mm against bacteria. Likewise, 0.5mm to 2.18mm was observed against fungus pathogens.