ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF ALCOHOL EXTRACT OF THE WATER CALTROP ENDOCARPS
A water caltrop ( Trapa L.) is an aquatic plant from the Lythraceae family. It has the fruits with solid outgrowths in the form of horns. After maturing, the soft outer shell, consisting of exocarp and mesocarp, gradually decays, while the inner hard shell (endocarp) is retained for at least one more year, that is, until the end of the growing season of the next year. We suggested that the endocarp of the water caltrop fruits contains metabolites that prevent the penetration of microorganisms into the seed. Therefore, the purpose of our work was to determine the antibacterial activity of the alcohol extract of the fruit endocarp and seeds separately. For the analysis, we collected fruits of the relict species of Siberian water caltrop ( Trapa sibirica Fler.) from the Upkankul Lake of the Republic of Bashkortostan. The high antibacterial activity of the alcohol extract of the water caltrop endocarp has been demonstrated by the disc-diffusion method. At the same time, the extract of the water caltrop seeds did not possess such antibacterial activity. Alcohol extracts of the tobacco roots, cotton leaves, ginger roots, chili fruits, garlic bulbs were not demonstrate of antibacterial activity. Proceeding from this, it is possible to suggest the presence in the endocarps of the water caltrop of metabolites with a relatively strong antibacterial activity.