ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY IN SELECTED INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANT EXTRACTS USING DISC DIFFUSION METHOD

The use of medicinal plants in the treatment of respiratory illness, dermatophytes and infectious diseases is common in traditional medicine. t. Therefore, in the present investigation the antimicrobial activity was evaluated in different parts of seven selected medicinal plant extracts such as seeds of Citrullus colocynthis, Mucuna prurita, Strychno potatorum, Strychnosnux-vomica, Roots of Glycyrrhiza glabra, Plumbago zeylanica and Salacia oblonga. The extracts were obtained using methanol, ethylacetate and chloroform. The antimicrobial potential of 21 extracts collected using three different solvents were subjected to screening against five strains of the bacteria species, Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus and Proteus mirabilis using disc diffusion method. Broad-spectrum antibiotics, Ampicillin, Cephalotaxine and Gentamicin were used as control drugs. The plant extracts showed more activity that is significant against Gram-positive bacteria than Gram-negative bacteria. Among the three solvent extracts, methanol extract have higher activity against bacteria. Ethyl acetate and chloroform extracts indicates moderate inhibition zone in medicinal plant extracts. This result showed that the plant extracts inhibited bacterial growth but their effectiveness is varied.