PHYTOCHEMICAL ANAYLSIS AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF SELECTED HERBS AGAINST BACTERIAL SEPSIS CAUSATIVE AGENTS

J. Varalakshmi, Balwin Nambikkairaj*, D. Ramya and P. Sivamani

ABSTRACT

Plants such as Carum copticum (Omam) seed extract, Tagetes erecta (Samanthi) flower extract, leaf extract of Centella asiatica (Vallarai), Achyranthes aspera (Nayuruvi) and stem extract of Aloe vera (Sothu Kathalai) were the herbs selected for the current study. The study clearly shows that the five herbs could very well be used for the control and treatment of microbial induced septicemia caused by the test organisms of this study such as Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the Wistar Rats. Though they are found to be effective, their effectiveness is lesser compared to the control antibacterial agents used in this study. They can be used as a supportive agent as folklore medicine, since they are cheaper, side effect free and non-resistant inducing. However further controlled studies are need to be carried out before the usage of these herbal preparation for treating human bacterial septicemic conditions.

Keywords: Bacterial Sepsis, Antimicrobial Activity, Phytochemical Anaylsis, Carum copticum, Tagetes erecta, Centella asiatica, Achyranthes aspera, Aloe vera.