EVALUATING THE ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF PLANT EXTRACTS AGAINST BACTERIAL PATHOGENS

Abstract

Four plants were screened for antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Salmonella species by the disc diffusion assay. The aqueous extracts of Psidium guajava, Citrus limonium, Allium sativum and Zingiber officinale were found active against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Guava leaves were found more effective against B. subtilis while Garlic cloves inhibited the growth of S. aureus to greater extent. On the other hand lemon juice and leaves extract inhibited the growth of P. aeruginosa and E. coli respectively to high level. These data support the use of such plants based medicines in treatment of infectious diseases where access to commercial antibiotics is restricted. The plants extracts are active against human microbial pathogens thus emerging as potential sources of new antimicrobial compounds. The present investigation expresses that plants have great potential as antimicrobial compounds against microorganisms. These findings provide scientific evidence to support the traditional medicinal uses of these extracts and indicate a promising potential of these plants for medicinal purposes. Thus they can be used in the treatment of infectious diseases caused by pathogenic bacteria. Further in vivo studies are necessary to substantiate our findings. More importantly there is need for detailed scientific study of traditional medical practices to ensure that valuable therapeutic knowledge of plants is preserved and also to provide scientific evidence for their efficacy.