ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF MACHILUS MACRANTHA NEES. (LAURACEAE) STEM BARK EXTRACTS

An assessment of phytochemical composition and antimicrobial activity of different extracts of Machilus macrantha Nees . stem bark against Staphylococcus aureus NCIM 2079, S almonella typhi NCIM 2217, Escherichia coli NCIM 2065, Pseudomonas aerugenosa NCIM 2200, and against the fungal strains Candida albicans NCIM 3471 and Aspergillus niger NCIM 3452 were done by using the two fold serial micro dilution method. Qualitative chemical test of a ll extracts were done by standard protocol. Alkaloids, carbohy drates, steroids and tannins were the major phytochemicals present in the plant. Results obtained showed that all the extracts had significant inhibitory effect (P < 0.01) a gainst tested bacteri a, whereas remarkable (P < 0.05) in hibitory effect against fungi at a concentration of 5 and 10 mg/ml comparable with control and reference standard group. Tannins containing extracts like acetone and ethyl acetate significantly (P < 0.01) inhibited growth of micro organism against S. aureus while chloroform and ethyl acetate extracts showed significant (P < 0.01) inhibition against S. typhi, E. coli and P. aeruginosa at the conc. of 10 mg/ml. I n addition, the acetone and pet ether extracts exhibited a sign ificantly inhibition on C. albicans and A. niger. The significant MIC value for the microorganisms ( E. coli, P. aerugenosa ) sensitive to the extract was 1 mg/ml. The overall MIC of extracts was in between 1 - 6 mg/ml. These results provide d a rationalization for the traditional use of this plant in the treatment of infectious diseases.