Antibacterial Activities of Some Medicinal Plants of the Western Region of India

Ten medicinal plants, namely Commiphora wightii, Hibiscus cannabinus, Anethum gravelons, Emblica officinalis, Ficus religiosa, Ficus racemosa, Ficus benghalensis, Ficus tisela, Mentha arvensis and Mimusops elengi, were screened for potential antibacterial activity against medically important bacterial strains, namely Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus mirabilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Alcaligenes faecalis and Salmonella typhimurium. The antibacterial activity was determined in aqueous and ethanol extracts using both agar disc diffusion and agar well diffusion methods. The ethanol extracts were more potent than aqueous extracts of all the plants studied. Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Salmonella typhimurium were the most resistant strains while the most susceptible bacterial strains were Bacillus cereus and Proteus mirabilis. Emblica officinalis showed strong activity against all the tested bacterial strains. Hence, this plant can be used to discover bioactive natural products that may serve as leads in the development of new pharmaceuticals that address unmet therapeutic needs.

Anahtar Kelimeler:

Commiphora wightii, Hibiscus cannabinus, Anethum gravelons, Emblica officinalis, Ficus spp., Mentha arvensis, Mimusops elengi, antibacterial activity, aqueous extract, ethanol extract

Antibacterial Activities of Some Medicinal Plants of the Western Region of India

Keywords:

Commiphora wightii, Hibiscus cannabinus, Anethum gravelons, Emblica officinalis, Ficus spp., Mentha arvensis, Mimusops elengi, antibacterial activity, aqueous extract, ethanol extract,

PDF

___

1. Bhattacharjee SK. Handbook of Medicinal Plants. Pointer Pub, Jaipur-03, India; 1998; pp. 1-6.
2. Zafar M, Iqbal A, Faiz M et al. Indian medicinal plants: a potential source for anticandidal drugs. J Ethnopharmacol 37: 237-242, 1999.
3. Vilegs JH, DeMarchi E, Lancas FM. Extraction of low polarity compounds from Milania glomerata leaves. J Phytochem Anal 8: 266-270, 1997.
4. Cheesbrough M. Medical Laboratory Manual for Tropical Countries, Butterworth, Oxford, pp. 260, 2000.
5. Gordon MC, David JN. Natural product drug discovery in the next millennium. Pharm Biol 39: 8-17, 2001.
6. Nair R, Chanda S. Antibacterial activity of some medicinal plants of Saurashtra region. J Tissue Res 4: 117-120, 2004.
7. Martinez MJ, Betancourt J, Alonso-Gonzalez N et al. Screening of some medicinal plants for antimicrobial activity. J Ethnopharmacol 52: 171-174, 1996.
8. Kumarsamy Y, Cox PJ, Jaspars M et al. Screening seeds of Scottish plants for antibacterial activity. J Ethnopharmacol 83: 73-77, 2002.
9. Parekh J, Chanda S. Screening of aqueous and alcoholic extracts of some Indian medicinal plants for antibacterial activity. Ind J Pharma Sci 68: 835-838, 2006.
10. Sudharameshwari K, Radhika J. Antibacterial screening of Aegle marmelos, Lawsonia inermis and Albizzia libbeck. Afr J Trad Comp Alt Med 4: 199-204, 20