Abstract

PHYTOCHEMICALS AND ANTIMICROBIAL STUDIES ON STEM EXTRACTS OF TINOSPORA CORDIFOLIA (WILLD.)

Aniel Kumar Owk and Mutyala Naidu Lagudu*

Abstract

Medicinal plants represent one of the most important fields of traditional medicine all over the world. In light of the recent emergence of pathogenic bacterial and fungal strains which are resistant to antibiotics posing a challenge for the treatment of infections, the need to discover new antimicrobial substances for use in combating such pathogens become pertinent. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to analyze the composition of phytochemicals and their antimicrobial activity from stem of T. cordifolia by using agar well diffusion method against seven bacterial and three fungal strains. Methanol and aqueous extracts exhibited the high antimicrobial activity while chloroform exhibited moderate activity and hexane showed low antimicrobial activity. Methanol and aqueous extracts showed antimicrobial activity is higher than standard antibiotics against Bacillus subtilis, Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Proteus vulgaris. Methanol extract was found to be strong MIC against Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus vulgaris whereas aqueous extract against Staphylococcus aureus and Sterptococcus pneumoniae, at concentration of 31.2 μg/ml. When the concentration of the extracts was increased the zone of inhibition also increased.

Keywords: Tinospora cordifolia, medicinal plant, phytochemicals, antimicrobial activity.