Antibacterial Activity of Extracts from Nine Medicinal Plants Against Major Skin Pathogens

There is a continuous and imperative need to discover new antimicrobial compounds with novel chemical structures and properties. However, the present scenario of emergence of multiple drug resistance patterns among human pathogenic bacteria has necessitated a search for new antimicrobial substances from sources including plants. In the present study methanol extract of nine plants viz. Allium sativum, Azadiracta indica, Bacopa monnerii, Eucalyptuscamaldulensis, Ocimum basillicum, Piper longum, Syzygium aromaticum, Valneria wallchii, Vitis vinifera were analysed against skin bacterial pathogens bacteria viz. Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus mirabilis and Proteus vulgaris. The in-vitro antibacterial activity was performed by agar well diffusion method. Amongst the plant species studied, methanol extract from Syzygium aromaticum and Eucalyptuscamaldulensis showed the best broad spectrum antimicrobial activity.