SCREENING THE INDIAN SUNDARBAN MANGROVE FOR ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY

This paper examines the antimicrobial activity of aqueous extract of leaves of four mangrove plants from the Indian Sundarbans against bacteria pathogenic to humans and plant. Fresh leaves collected were surface sterilized, dried till crisp and then ground till powder and extracted with sterile distilled water for 18 hours at 70°C. The antimicrobial activity of the aqueous extract was tested using agar well diffusion technique. The length of inhibition zone was measured in millimeters. The zone of inhibition against the test pathogenic bacteria ranged from (13mm to 20mm). All the aqueous extract showed antimicrobial activity. Aqueous extract of the tested mangrove plants exhibited promising antibacterial activity. Aegialitis rotundifolia could be used in the treatment of E. coli, B. cereus and S.typhi infection. Avicennia alba and Brugeria gymnorrhiza could be used for treating Staphylococcus aureus infection. Moreover due to location of mangrove in the saline estuarine region, they are rich in photochemical which may be the reason for their antibacterial activity. Further studies are being carried out in order to isolate the compound responsible for antibacterial property.