Antimicrobial activity of some traditional medicinal plants.

Abstract

The antimicrobial activity of the extracts of Andrographis paniculata Nees;Phyllanthus niruri Linn.; Terminalia bellerica Roxb.; Terminalia chebula Retz.; and Vitex negundo Linn., was studied against four gram negative and one gram positive bacteria. The results showed that the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of P. niruri leaf extract was 50 µg/ml against Salmonella typhi andStaphylococcus aureus, where as, the MICs of T. bellerica fruit extract againstEscherichia coli and S. aureus were 50 and 200 µg/ml respectively. However, the leaf extracts of the Andrographis paniculata, T. chebula and V. negundo have not shown any antimicrobial activity in the tested concentrations.   Key words: Traditional medicinal plants, antimicrobial activity.