ISSN 2736-1756
Advanced Journal of Microbiology Research Vol. 2012
Available online at http://internationalscholarsjournals.org/journal/ajmr
© 2012 International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
In vitro screening of antibacterial activity of aqueous and alcoholic extracts of various Indian plant species against selected pathogens from Enterobacteriaceae
Parekh J and Chanda S*
Phytochemical,Pharmacological and Microbiological Laboratory, Department of Biosciences, Saurashtra University, Rajkot, 360 005,Gujarat, India.
Accepted 6 November, 2012
Abstract
Thirty four medicinal plants, belonging to twenty eight different families, were screened for potential antibacterial activity against six bacterial strains belonging to Enterobacteriaceae, viz. Enterobacter aerogenes ATCC13048, Escherichia coli ATCC25922, Klebsiella pneumoniae NCIM2719, Proteus mirabilis NCIM 2241, Proteus vulgaris NCTC8313, and Salmonella typhimurium ATCC23564. Antibacterial activity of aqueous and alcoholic extracts was tested by the agar disc diffusion and agar well diffusion methods. The ethanol/methanol extracts were more active than aqueous extracts for all the plants studied. The most susceptible bacterium was K. pneumoniae, while the most resistant bacteria were S. typhimurium and E. coli. From the screening experiment, Woodfordia fruticosa Kurz. showed best antibacterial activity. Hence, this plant may be used further to isolate and evaluate the therapeutic antimicrobials.
Key words: Medicinal plants, antibacterial activity, aqueous extracts, alcoholic extracts, Enterobacteriaceae.