Antimicrobial Activity of Selected Medicinal Plants against Clinical Bacterial Species

Abstract

The current study was conducted to determine the antimicrobial potential of herbal plants against gram negative including Klebsiella pneumonia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli, and gram positive bacteria including Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus species. Aqueous extracts of these herbs were used to check the antimicrobial susceptibility. The antimicrobial activity of these herbal extracts was determined by using agar well diffusion technique. The aqueous extract of Zanthoxylum alatum exhibited maximum antibacterial activity against Enterococcus fecalis and E. fecium with the inhibitory zone in the range 35 mm and 30 mm at 100 uL respectively. While aqueous extract of Gerwia asiatica showed maximum antimicrobial activity against E. fecalis with the inhibitory zone 28 mm. Whereas, aqueous extract of Juglans regia showed maximum antibacterial activity against P. aeruginosa and E. fecalis with the inhibitory zones 28 mm and 20 mm respectively. Some of the microbes showed no inhibitory activity such as, S. aureus exhibited resistance against both G. asiatica and J. regia antimicrobial contents. The results confirmed the therapeutic potency of these herbs for use in folk medicine. The results also encourage the usage of plants exhibiting antimicrobial activity against most of the food-borne and food-spoilage microorganisms.