Antimicrobial activity of 18 ethnomedicinal plant extracts were evaluated against nine bacterial strains (Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Ervinia sp, Proteus vulgaris) and one fungal strain (Candida albicans). The collected ethnomedicinal plants were used in folk medicine in the treatment of skin diseases, venereal diseases, respiratory problems and nervous disorders. Plants were collected from Palni hills of Southern Western Ghats and the ethnobotanical data were gathered from traditional healers who inhabit the study area. The hexane and methanol extracts were obtained by cold percolation method and the antimicrobial activity was found using paper disc diffusion method. All microorganisms were obtained from Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India. The results indicated that out of 18 plants, 10 plants exhibited antimicrobial activity against one or more of the tested microorganisms at three different concentrations of 1.25, 2.5 and 5 mg/disc. Among the plants tested, Acalypha fruticosa, Peltophorum pterocarpum, Toddalia asiatica,Cassia auriculata, Punica granatum and Syzygium lineare were most active. The highest antifungal activity was exhibited by methanol extract of Peltophorum pterocarpum and Punica granatum against Candida albicans. This study evaluated the antimicrobial activity of the some ethnomedicinal plants used in folkloric medicine. Compared to hexane extract, methanol extract showed significant activity against tested organisms. This study also showed that Toddalia asiatica, Syzygium lineare, Acalypha fruticosa and Peltophorum pterocarpum could be potential sources of new antimicrobial agents.

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Antimicrobial activity of some ethnomedicinal plants used by Paliyar tribe from Tamil Nadu, India.

Certain plants products widely used in the traditional medicine system of India were studied for immunostimulant activity. In the present study, strong stimulation of antigen specific and non specific immunity was evidenced by increase in haemagglutinating antibody (HA) titre, plaque forming cells (PFC) and in macrophage migration index (MMI), in mice fed with 50% ethanolic extract of these plants. The observation provides scientific basis for wide spread use of these plant products which are likely to play a role in Indian traditional medicine as tonic for rejuvenation therapy and chronic ailments.

	Key words: Macrophage migration index, haemagglutinating antibody, immunostimulant.

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Techniques for evaluation of medicinal plant products as antimicrobial agents: Current methods and future trends

Medicinal plants have recently received the attention of the pharmaceutical and scientific communities and various publications have documented the therapeutic value of natural compounds in a bid to validate claims of their biological activity. Attention has been drawn to the antimicrobial activity of plants and their metabolites due to the challenge of growing incidences of drug-resistant pathogens. Some plants have shown the ability to overcome resistance in some organisms and this has led to researchers’ investigating their mechanisms of action and isolating active compounds. Particular focus is on establishing the effect of the plant(s) extracts in terms of their microstatic and microcidal action and the spectrum of organisms affected. This has enabled exploitation of plants for the treatment of microbial infections and in the development of new antimicrobial agents. This requires rigorous research and it is therefore imperative to follow standard methods to authenticate claims of antimicrobial action. Results comparability is largely dependent on the techniques employed in the investigations and conclusive results can only be obtained if methods are standardized and universal. This paper reviews the current methods used in the investigations of the efficacy of plants as antimicrobial agents and points out some of the differences in techniques employed by different authors.

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Assessment techniques of antimicrobial properties of natural compounds of plant origin: current methods and future trends

The overzealous and indiscriminate use of most of the synthetic fungicides has created different types of environmental and toxicological problems. Recently, in different parts of the world, attention has been paid towards exploitation of higher plant products as novel chemotherapeutants in plant protection. The popularity of botanical pesticides is once again increasing and some plant products are being used globally as green pesticides. Pyrethroids and neem products are well established commercially as botanical pesticides and recently some essential oils of higher plants have also been used as antimicrobials against storage pests because of their relatively safe status and wide acceptance by the consumers. Some of the volatile oils, which often contain the principal aromatic and flavouring components of herbs and spices, have been recommended as plant based antimicrobials to retard microbial contamination and reduction in spoilage of food commodities. In the context of agricultural pest management, botanical pesticides are best suited for use in organic food production in industrialized countries but can play a much greater role in the production and post harvest protection of food products in developing countries.

https://file.scirp.org/pdf/AS20120300013_23840567.pdf

Efficacy of plant extracts in plant disease management

Antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of guarana seed extracts

Twelve medicinal plants were screened, namely Abrus precatorius L., Caesalpinia pulcherrima Swartz., Cardiospermum halicacabum L., Casuarina equisetifolia L., Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers., Delonix regia L., Euphorbia hirta L., Euphorbia tirucalli L., Ficus benghalensis L., Gmelina asiatica L., Santalum album L., and Tecomella undulata (Sm.) Seem, for potential antibacterial activity against 5 medically important bacterial strains, namely Bacillus subtilis ATCC6633, Staphylococcus epidermidis ATCC12228, Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes ATCC17440, Proteus vulgaris NCTC8313 and Salmonella typhimurium ATCC23564. The antibacterial activity of aqueous and methanol extracts was determined by agar disk diffusion and agar well diffusion method. The methanol extracts were more active than the aqueous extracts for all 12 plants studied. The plant extracts were more active against Gram-positive bacteria than against Gram-negative bacteria. The most susceptible bacteria were B. subtilis, followed by S. epidermidis, while the most resistant bacteria were P. vulgaris, followed by S. typhimurium. From the screening experiment, Caesalpinia pulcherrima Swartz. showed the best antibacterial activity; hence this plant can be further subjected to isolation of the therapeutic antimicrobials and further pharmacological evaluation.

https://journals.tubitak.gov.tr/biology/issues/biy-05-29-4/biy-29-4-3-0506-4.pdf

Darshana Jadeja

Papers

Efficacy of Aqueous and Methanol Extracts of Some Medicinal Plants for Potential Antibacterial Activity