Anatomical, Chemical and Antimicrobial Activity of Corchorus olitorius L. (Molokhia)

The genus Corchorus L. which is a member of the family Tiliaceae, is native to tropical and subtropical regions. According to the plant list, it contains about 75 accepted taxa. Corchorus olitorius L. is an annual plant growing to 3.5 m high. Its leaves are simple, shine green, elliptic-ovate, acute and serratulate with short petiole. The flowers are yellow and small. The flowering time is from August to October and the seeds ripen in October. In this study, anatomical characters and antibacterial activity of leaves have been investigated. The examined specimens have been collected in the early summer season from fields in Çayönü village (Famagusta, North Cyprus). The cross-sections, surface sections and powder of leaves have been examined microscopically and antibacterial activity of methanol, chloroform, dichloromethane, acetone, hexane, ethyl acetate and water extracts against S. aureus, E. faecalis, E. coliand K. pneumoniae was investigated by Muller Hinton broth media for Macrodilution and agar well diffusion method. The results obtained in this research, anatomically leaves are dorsiventral (bifacial), on both sides there is one layered epidermal. Outer wall of epidermis cells are thick and the cuticula thin. Midrib is very prominent with 4 big secretion cell. Palisade parenchyma is 1-2 layered, spongy parenchyma is 2-3 layered. Prismatic crystals are abundant and mainly runs as one row along the veins. Stomata are on the lower surface. There are no hairs but some small scabrous cavities are present. iv Microbiologically, the Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations of all/some extracts were found to be 128 mg/l for all of the Gram positive and Gram negative strains tested. The results obtained in this study appear to confirm the antibacterial potential of Corchorus olitorius leaves, as well as its beneficial in the treatment of related diseases. Keywords: Corchorus olitorius, leaf anatomical structure, antimicrobial activity