Quercetin - a potential compound of Azadirachta indica A. Juss. (Neem) leaves exhibiting activity against wood decaying fungi and termites

IRG/WP 08-30463

S Dhyani, S Tripathi

Azadirachta indica A.Juss. is widely recognized for its medicinal, insecticidal, pesticidal and anti-microbial property. Methanol extract of neem leaves revealed marked anti-fungal activity when subjected to malt-agar and soil block bioassay against wood destroying brown (Oligoporus placentus) and white rot (Trametes versicolor). The extract also revealed marked termicidal property when subjected to wood destroying termites i.e. Microcerotermes beesoni Synder in laboratory and against Odentotermes obesus Rambur in termite mound. Column chromatography of methanol extract resulted in isolation of compound exhibiting potential activity against fungi. The compound obtained was identified as flavanoid and structure elucidation was done by UV-Visible, IR, Mass, 1H & 13C NMR. The compound was identified as quercetin. It was further tested at 5µg concentration exhibiting 100% growth retardation of the test fungi.


Keywords: Azadirachta indica, termicidal acticity, methanol extract, Quercetin

Conference: 08-05-25/29, Istanbul, Turkey


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