Antibacterial activities of some plant extracts used in Indian traditional folk medicine

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the antibacterial activity of the leaf extracts of Cestrum diurnum , Ocimum sanctum , Carcica papaya, Solanum villosum , Vitex negundo , and Clerodendron inerme against two gram positive bacteria ( Staphylococcus aureus MTCC 2940 and Bacillus subtilis MTCC 441) and two gram negative bacteria ( Escherichia coli MTCC 739 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa MTCC 2453). Methods The sensitivity of two gram positive and two gram negative pathogenic multi-drug resistant bacteria to extracts of leaves of six medicinal plants used as popular medicine in India was studied in vitro by the disk diffusion method and minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC). Results All the bacterial strains were found to be sensitive to aqueous, n-hexane and ethanol extracts. But, it is evident that the organic extracts were comparatively more effective than aqueous extracts. Conclusions It can be concluded that the leaf extracts of the six medicinal plants possess antibacterial activity against human pathogens.