BACTERICIDAL ACTIVITY OF DIFFERENT PARTS OF AZADIRACHTA INDICA ON PROBIOTIC MICROBES

ABSTRACT Objective: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the bactericidal activity of different parts of Azadirachta indica plant against probiotic microbes such as Bacillus clausii, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Lactobacillus casei and Saccharomyces boulardii that were found to be present in these commercial available probiotic products such as yoghurt, probase, enterogermina and various other types of fermented food. Methods: Bactericidal activity of different parts of Azadirachta indica plant considering leaves, barks and seeds were observed by agar well diffusion method by calculating inhibition length. Phytochemical screening was done in aqueous and methanolic extracts of leaves, barks and seed of Azadirachta indica plant in order to reveal the presence of secondary metabolite in the defined extracts. Results: The present study has revealed the presence of maximum bactericidal activity in its aqueous extracts of leaves as compared to the bark and seed. Conclusion: This can be concluded from the present study to recommend to utilize the bark and seed as traditional herbal remedies that has shown less amount of bactericidal activity against the probiotic microbes. Keywords: Probiotic microbes, Phytochemical screening, Bactericidal activity, Agar well-diffusion method, Azadirachta indica.