Abstract
Screening of aqueous and alcoholic extracts of some Indian medicinal plants for antibacterial activity
Phytochemical, Pharmacological and Microbiological Laboratory, Department of Biosciences, Saurashtra University, Rajkot-360 005, India
Correspondence Address:
Sumitra Chanda Phytochemical, Pharmacological and Microbiological Laboratory, Department of Biosciences, Saurashtra University, Rajkot-360 005 India E-mail: sumitrachanda@yahoo.com
The antibacterial activities of 100 extracts of 50 Indian plant species were tested against six medically important bacterial strains, viz., B. cereus, S. aureus, S. epidermidis, K. pneumoniae, A. fecalis and P. aeruginosa . The antibacterial assay was done by both agar disc diffusion method and agar well diffusion method. The antibacterial activity exhibited by alcoholic extract was better than the aqueous extract. The results evaluated as the diameter of the inhibition zone of microbial growth showed that the extracts were more active against gram-positive bacteria than gram-negative bacteria. Amongst the investigated microorganisms, the most resistant bacteria were P. aeruginosa and A. fecalis . The most susceptible bacteria were gram-positive B. cereus and gram-negative K. pneumoniae , and the maximum activity was shown by T. chebula, M. indica and E. citriodora
