Susceptibility of microorganism to selected medicinal plants in Bangladesh

ABSTRACT Objective To analyze in-vitro antimicrobial activities of some ethno-pharmacologically significant medicinal plants (methanol extract) against the pathogenic microorganisms ( Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp. , Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans ). Methods The disc diffusion method was applied for antibacterial test and the poisoned food technique was applied for antifungal test. Results The methanol extract of Terminalia chebula (bark), Phyllanthus acidus (fruits), Sarcochlamys pulcherrima (leaves) and Abelmoschus esculentus (fruits) had significant in vitro antibacterial activity angainst the entire test samples in comparison to standard drug ciprofloxacin. Most of the plant extracts showed low activity against Gram negative bacteria while potential activity against Gram positive bacteria. The antifungal activities of methanol extracts of these plants and standard drug griseofulvin were determined against two pathogenic fungi, and Polygonum lapathifolium (leaves) and Cinnamomum tamala (leaves) showed maximum activity, while Erioglossum rubiginosum (leaves) showed no antifungal activity. Conclusions Further chemical and pharmacological investigations are required to identify and isolate chemical constituents responsible for these potential bioactivities and thus to determine their full spectrum of efficacy.