Abstract

The antimicrobial activity of the different extracts of the stem bark of Toddalia asiatica was performed on Staphyloccus aureus, Escherichia coli and Candida albicans, respectively. Screening for wound healing activity was performed by excision wound model and incision wound model with both uninfected and infected wound with cocktail of bacteria comprising Staphyloccus aureus and Escherichia coli. The results of antimicrobial activity revealed that all the extracts exhibited varying degree of antibacterial activity against Staphyloccus aureus and Escherichia coli but none of the extracts were effective against Candida albicans. The studies on excision and incision wound healing models with and without infection showed that there is almost complete healing on the 12th post wounding day with all tested extracts. The degree of wound contraction with all extracts were in order of petroleum ether extract>chloroform extract>acetone extract>ethanol extract>aqueous extract. After infection with cocktail of tested bacteria, the order of tensile strength of the wounds of the animals treated with different extracts remained unchanged. The above findings justify potential wound healing properties of the stem bark as suggested in the folklore claims.