Full Length Research Paper
Abstract
Rising appearance of resistance to the presently existing antibiotics has necessitated sustained search for new antimicrobial compounds. The present study was designed to confirm ethno-medicinal assert of Gymnema sylvestre possessing antimicrobial activity that could be a superior alternative for synthetic antimicrobial agents, if proved to be successful enough. For this, the antimicrobial properties of G. sylvestre were tested against seven bacteria (Shigella flexneri, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhi,Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus vulgaris, and Enterobacter aerogenes) and three fungi (Aspergillus niger, Candida albicans, and Trichophyton rubrum)by using different solvents like petroleum ether, chloroform, benzene, ethyl acetate, ethanol and distilled water. The result showed that all the solvent extracts exhibited considerable activity against the tested microorganisms. The antibacterial activity increased with the increasing concentration of the extract. Petroleum ether solvent extract of G. sytvestre is less active against all test microorganisms than five other solvent extracts, and distilled water extract is highly active against all test microorganisms. All solvent extracts at lower concentration of 50 mg/ 20 disc showed very smaller amount of activity against all test microorganisms.
Key words: Gymnema sylvestre, antibacterial activity, bacterial infections, medicinal plant.
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