Abstract:

Ten medicinal plants, namely Commiphora wightii, Hibiscus cannabinus, Anethum gravelons, Emblica officinalis, Ficus religiosa, Ficus racemosa, Ficus benghalensis, Ficus tisela, Mentha arvensis and Mimusops elengi, were screened for potential antibacterial activity against medically important bacterial strains, namely Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus mirabilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Alcaligenes faecalis and Salmonella typhimurium. The antibacterial activity was determined in aqueous and ethanol extracts using both agar disc diffusion and agar well diffusion methods. The ethanol extracts were more potent than aqueous extracts of all the plants studied. Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Salmonella typhimurium were the most resistant strains while the most susceptible bacterial strains were Bacillus cereus and Proteus mirabilis. Emblica officinalis showed strong activity against all the tested bacterial strains. Hence, this plant can be used to discover bioactive natural products that may serve as leads in the development of new pharmaceuticals that address unmet therapeutic needs.

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