IN VITRO ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF CASSIA AURICULATA (L) AGAINST MICROBES PRESENT IN HUMAN SALIVA

J. Anudeepa* and M. Sangeetha

ABSTRACT

Medicinal plants are natural sources of compounds that can be used against many diseases today. The medicinal values of these plants lie in bioactive phytochemical constituents that produce definite physiological actions on the human body. The world is now looking towards India due to its rich biodiversity of medicinal plants and abundance of traditional medicine systems. The aim of the present study is to compare antimicrobial activity of active compound of Cassia auriculata with 2% chlorhexidine, known antimicrobial agent. The antimicrobial activity was assisted by measuring the inhibition zones by well diffusion method. Saliva was collected from children of age group 6-12 years having DMFT value four or above four. Ten salivary samples were tested for antimicrobial property to determine the Minimum Inhibition Concentration in order to increase the reliability and precision of the study. The results confirmed the antimicrobial potential of active compound of Cassia auriculata plant at different concentrations are comparable with chlorhexidine can be used as preventive and therapeutic measure in dentistry.

Keywords: Cassia auriculata, Anti-microbial activity, Human saliva, Chlorhexidine.