Screening of some medicinal plants for anticariogenic activity: An investigation on bioactive constituents from Jatropha gossypifolia (L.) root

•Anticariogenic effects of 14 crude extracts from 7 medicinal plants and one isolated molecule from Tamilnadu, India were studied.•The most active root EtOAc extract from Jatropha gossypifolia (L.) was fractionated.•The isolated compound was identified as naringenin; it showed appreciable activity against the tested cariogenic bacteria with MIC value of 125µg/ml-500µg/ml.•Our results showed the potential of naringenin as a natural anticariogenic agent to control oral diseases.

This study investigated the anticariogenic effect of 14 crude extracts from 7 medicinal plants and one isolated molecule on survival and growth of selected cariogenic bacteria. Antibacterial activity was performed against the selected organisms by disc diffusion method; minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined for purified compound. The most active extract from Jatropha gossypifolia (L.) was fractionated and fraction 3 showed broad spectrum activity against the tested cariogenic bacteria with MIC in the range of 125-500 µg/mL. Based on the anticariogenic activity fraction 3 was further purified and structure of active principle was elucidated based on spectroscopic analysis using proton and carbon NMR and comparison with reported literature. The isolated compound was identified as naringenin; it showed good anticariogenic activity with MIC value of 125 µg/mL against Escherichia coli and Enterococcus faecalis, 250 µg/mL against Klebsiella pneumoniae and Lactobacillus species and 500 µg/mL against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Our results showed the potential of naringenin as a natural anticariogenic agent to control oral diseases. It can be further processed for pharmaceutical applications.