STUDIES ON THE ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF SELECTED MEDICINAL PLANTS AGAINST HUMAN SKIN PATHOGENS

Anju V. Jalaj, B. Christudhas Williams and R. Mary Suja*

ABSTRACT

Medicinal plant represents a rich source of antimicrobial agents. The present study was an attempt to analyse the antibacterial potential of ten medicinal plants against four skin diseases, 10% extract of all the plants were prepared by Soxhlet extraction and antibacterial efficiency of the extracts were tested by Agar Well Diffusion assay. Streptomycin was used as the positive control and toluene served as negative control. The study leads to the discovery of a potent antibacterial agent of Phyllanthus emblica against Serratia marcescens. Among the tested sampling plants, Phyllanthus emblica, Curcuma longa and Embelia ribes were found to be more effective against the tested pathogens when compared to the other plants.

Keywords: Medicinal plants, antibacterial, streptomycin, well diffusion.